The leader of a political opposition party in Somalia has warned that federal elections in Mogadishu cannot be held without the official recognition and approval of his party and other opposition groups.
Abdirahman Abdishakur, the leader of the Wadajir party, told Universal TV that an election without the recognition of such groups would be illegitimate and cannot take place in Mogadishu.
Abdishakur criticised the involvement of Somalia’s national intelligence apparatus in federal elections.
“Any prospective candidate for member of parliament must first go through NISA, which is directly funded by Qatar. I want to tell the government that we don’t support this process.”
Abdishakur also voiced his concerns on his Twitter page where he called for NISA to be “neutralised”.
“Majority of the members of the electoral commission were recruited by NISA. Those seeking MP positions have to take a guarantor to NISA. The Qatari money paid to MPs is at the NISA. The election’s integrity & the nation’s stability are at risk unless NISA is neutralised.”
He suggested that the intelligence community contest the election legitimately if it is interested in politics.
“It would be better if the intelligence community made its own political party and participate in the election process legitimately.
Abdishakur also praised the regional governments of Puntland and Jubbaland for opting to not select members to the federal electoral commission.
However, it should be noted that Abdishakur’s Wadajir party extended it’s congratulations to Ali Guudlawe. Guudlawe was the federal government’s hand-picked candidate to run as Hirshabelle President. The election was widely seen as an exercise in corruption that included overreach from the federal government and intelligence community.
Abdishakur promised that there would not be an election in Mogadishu if the proper procedures aren’t followed.
“The President has two months left in his mandate; he shouldn’t waste any time. His friend, over at the intelligence department (Fahad Yasin), shouldn’t waste his time either. There will not be an election in Mogadishu that we are not satisfied with.”
