Somali PM appoints 66 members of State Indirect Electoral Implementation Team

Somali prime minister Omar Abdrashid Omar has appointed 66 members to serve in the  State Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (SIEIT) barely hours after National Leadership Forum (NLF) was concluded.

In statement by the office of the premier dated 9th August, Omar announced electoral implementing teams for Puntland, Jubbaland, Southwest, Galmudug, Somaliland, Hiraan and Middle Shabelle which will carry out the election process atstate level.

Each state was given 11 SIEIT members which will supervise and implement the election process, according to statement.

On Sunday, UN-sponsored Somalia Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) released the timetable for the forthcoming electoral process that will culminate in the election of the country’s new president at the end of October.

Chairperson of the Federal Election Commission Omar Mohamed Abdulle said election of the Upper House will be held on Sept. 25 and Members of Parliament will be elected from Sept. 24 to Oct. 10.

According to Abdulle, the election of the Speaker of the Parliament will happen on Oct. 25 while the presidential election will be held on Oct. 30.

Current mandate of the president expires on September 10 but the regional governments have agreed to extend his term up to the October 30 vote.The vote will involve up to 14,000 delegates chosen by clan elders and organised into six US-style “electoral colleges” to choose 275 MPs, 30 percent of whom will be women.

Somalia sank into a devastating civil war in 1991 when warlords ousted president Mohamed Siad Barre, plunging the country into years of chaos.