Somalilandsun: As observers, our role will be to consider not just the campaign, election day and
results but the new consolidated electoral legislation and its implementation in these elections.”
This was stated by Professor Michael Walls of DPU, chief observer on the EOM, following a cooperative meeting with the Somaliland National Elections commission-NEC upon arrival of the main group of Members of the limited International Elections Observer Mission -LIEOM to the Somaliland parliamentary and local Councils elections 2021 are in country.
The in-country LIEOM team has been complemented by the arrival in Hargeisa of Amb prof Iqbal Jhazbhay of South Africa.
In a tweet revealing his arrival in Hargeisa Amb Jhazbhay who is a popular figure in Somaliland wrote
Glad to be in #Hargeisa to observe z democratic local & parliamentary elections, as part of z University College London organised team, supported by the UK's FCDO. Was last here as part of z @EISAfrica Parliamentary 2005 Election Observer Team, led by the Gauteng ANC Chief Whip.
— Amb Prof Iqbal Jhazbhay (@iqbalau_) May 26, 2021
The presence of Prof Jhazbhay is very significant since he carries a lot of weight within South Africa Foreign Affairs Circles” says Yumoha Pasha an African political analyst
For a long time Prof Iqbal Jhazbhay who coined the phrase Somaliland, Africa’s best Kept Secret“, also served as the Somaliland diplomatic representative in South Africa
Formerly the South Africa diplomatic envoy to Eritrea, Amb Iqbal Jhazbhay is now a professor at University of South Africa and a Director of the Board of the Institute for Global Dialogue
Noting that “Every election is important, and these ones the more so given that they mark only the second time Somaliland’s House of Representatives will have been elected by a popular vote., the LIEM team adds that
Despite the limited international observers which now includes Prof Jhazbhay, it s acknowledged by all that “the fact that the parliamentary elections are paired with local council elections further increases the significance of the choices for Somalilanders”
During campaigns, balloting on the 30th May 2021 and immediately after the LIEOM role will be to consider not just the campaign, election day, and results but the new consolidated electoral legislation and its implementation in these elections.”
More about the LIEOM to the Somaliland parliamentary and local Councils elections 2021 HERE
