Somaliland Parliament voted today to approve four out of seven new commissioners slated to replace the recently dissolved Election Commissioners. Three proposed Election Commissioners did not garner enough votes from the parliament. President Bihi has submitted the list of proposed election commissioners to the Parliament on June 11.
The three rejected candidates include Mr. Muse Haji Hassan Yusuf, the current Chairman of Somaliland’s Quality Control Commission who has received the lowest votes. Several members of parliament who spoke to the media after the vote indicated their opposition to Mr. Yusuf’s appointment to the commission is due to his current position. It is unclear if Mr. Yusuf has resigned as the Chairman the Quality Control Commission.
Despite speedy constitution of the new election commission, the rejection of the three candidates is a set back for election logistics as several important precursor steps for presidential election such as voter registration are on hold.
Two of the three rejected candidates for the election commission were appointed by President Bihi. It is unclear who or how quickly President Bihi will submit replacement candidates for the three slots to complete the commission’s quorum.
The approved commissioners include one female, Ms. Fadumo Ismail Abi who received the second highest votes of 67.