MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Federal Indirect Election Team (FIET) has announced the dismissal of their chairman Muse Gelle due to incompetence as the country is preparing to hold presidential elections.
Gelle’s removal comes after he published the list of newly elected lawmakers for both Lower and Upper Houses of incoming Federal Parliament of Somalia.
In a statement, the FIET said its members had unanimously rejected the list published by Gelle and accused him of having relations with the office of Prime Minister of Somalia.
The move came after Gelle announced the suspension of four parliamentary seats, including a seat won by Fahad Yasin, a powerful political figure and serving as national security adviser to the president of Somalia.
This also coincided after Gelle sacked his secretary-general Abdirahman Abdiaziz Aden for opposing the list of newly elected lawmakers.
Somalia federal election committee led by Gelle published the list of 245 Lower House lawmakers nd 54 Upper House Senators.
The results of four seats have been suspended with 26 more seats remaining to be filled.
Somalia’s polls are more than a year behind schedule, with voting for the lower house of parliament due to be completed by March 15 but failed to meet its second deadline.
