Somalia: International community reaffirms support for timely and credible 2016 electoral process
Mogadishu, 2 September 2016 – The United Nations, African Union, European Union, Inter-governmental Authority on Development, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Sweden and Italy welcome the preparations underway for the implementation of Somalia’s 2016 electoral process.
Somalia’s international partners reiterate their support for the electoral process and stress the need for its implementation in a fair and timely manner. They note the presidential statement issued by the UN Security Council on 19 August urging all stakeholders to abide by the revised calendar for the electoral process “without further delay.”
The international community is working with the relevant Somali stakeholders on measures to maximise the technical integrity, transparency and credibility of the electoral process.
The electoral budget has been agreed with the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT). International partners have committed funding, administered through mechanisms set up under the auspices of the United Nations, to ensure the electoral process can be implemented without additional delays and that a mechanism for timely disbursement is in place.
International partners – including the European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States – are providing approximately 60 per cent of the required budget, which will be supplemented by funding generated through candidate registration fees and resources from the Federal Budget. That should complete the funding requirements.
Technical support funded by international partners is already being provided to the FIEIT, and the FIEIT has commenced its work in briefing members of the State-Level Indirect Electoral Implementation Teams and traditional elders, and finalizing its rules and procedures.
With funding on track, the focus now should be on reaching final agreement at the upcoming National Leadership Forum (NLF) in Mogadishu on key outstanding issues. As time for the implementation of the electoral process is becoming critically short, international partners stress the need to abide by the agreed framework for the electoral process.
“The tournament is about to begin,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia Michael Keating. “This is an exciting and very significant moment for Somalia. The full rules of the game must now be confirmed by the NLF, and the goalposts must not be shifted”.