EXCLUSIVE: Poll dates out, President to be elected October 30, 2016
A new President will be elected on October 30 this year while delegates will cast their vote for Members of the Lower House starting from September 24th to October 10, 2016, Goobjoog News can exclusively report.
An impeccable source attending the deliberations by the National Leadership Forum which is expected to release the poll dates today told Goobjoog News the leaders who include the President, Speaker of Parliament, PM and regional state leaders had settled on the timeline to officially pave way for the final touches of the much anticipated polls.
Besides the President and Lower House, the Upper House members will be elected on September 25th. Both the Lower and Upper Houses will be sworn in on October 20 and thereafter elect the Speaker on October 25, 2016.
Prior to this, the lawmakers elect will converge in the capital Mogadishu between October 11th and 19th in preparation for the election of the country’s leader.
The announcement expected Sunday afternoon will ultimately break the deadlock that saw the leaders extend the meeting for two more days.
The leaders will also make key announcements regarding the poll venues for Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle and Somaliland. The 30% quota formula for women representation in both Houses is also one of the very important items in the agenda.
But what might raise debate the more is the number of delegates who will elect the Lower House members. As agreed earlier, the said lawmakers will be elected through the 4.5 clan based system but contention has been on the number delegates. Goobjoog News learnt there were proposals to reduce the number from the agreed 50 to between 10 and 15.