US urges Somalia to wrap up elections

The US on Sunday called on Somalia to see its elections through to completion after it blew past last week’s deadline to finish them with less than 10 per cent of Somali parliamentarians for the lower house elected.

“The United States is deeply concerned by the continuing delays and by the procedural irregularities that have undermined the credibility of the process,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

“It is imperative that Somalia’s national and Federal Member State leaders swiftly conclude credible, transparent, and inclusive parliamentary and presidential elections and address concerns in an open and acceptable manner.”

Although the deadline for Somalia to complete its parliamentary elections was December 24, only 24 of 275 parliamentarians in the lower house have been elected so far. The elections began on November 1.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble have exchanged blame in statements accusing the other of eroding the elections’ integrity.

Mr Farmaajo had previously sought to extend his term by another two years and the elections had already been delayed for more than a year. Critics say he is using unconstitutional means to stay in power.

This resulted in clashes between competing factions of Somali security forces throughout Mogadishu in April, prompting more than 60,000 people to flee.

Analysts have warned that a protracted political crisis distracts from the growing threat of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab, which controls most of southern Somalia’s rural areas and launches regular attacks on Somali cities and in neighboring Kenya.

The political standoff over a disputed election process veered into violence on the streets of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, earlier this year