Mareeg.com-In these days, some members of the federal parliament are resigning from their seats in exchange for compensation or for seat transfer to original sponsor. Seat Transfer to specific sponsor is possible because of the pervasive political corruption and electoral manipulation.
In the case of compensation, the resigning member could get as much as 500 thousand to 1 million dollars for vacating the seat. These kinds of resignation are political corruption deliberately encouraged by the federal government with public resources. The full knowledge of this political manipulation is increasingly corroding public confidence and interest in government.
The 2016 electoral process for members of the federal parliament was administered by Federal Indirect Election Implementation Team (FIEIT), State Indirect Election Implementation Teams (SIEITs) established in each federal member state, and an Independent Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM). The National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) established by the Provisional Constitution has been excluded in whole electoral process, while it is now administering the replacement election without the participation of federal state election teams and dispute mechanism. The Federal Parliament has yet to pass electoral law.
The replacement elections are looking sham. The winner of each replacement election is predicted with 100 percent accuracy because of politicized process. This defeats the purpose of political election and pollutes the 2020/2021 elections.
Today, the NIEC has publicized the replacement election for a seat vacated by an MP from Puntland State. The NIEC approves the list of voters submitted by the traditional leader(s) of the community being constituency of the seat. The public predicts that the winner of the seat will be a Minister of the federal government of President Farmajo.
The Federal Government, the NIElC, and the International Community should give high priority to improving the integrity and competitiveness of the electoral process to improve the legitimacy and public confidence in government and political elections.
In addition, it is testing to see how the election of replacement will be conducted at a time of strained relation between the federal states and federal government. The NIEC is a federal institution that navigates through a political minefield for lack of political and legal clarity in the federal system and rule of law.
Mr. Mohamud Uluso
