TPEC UNVEILS NAMES OF 17 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS

[FBIsomalia]

Garowe ( PPM) —Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission unveiled in March the names of 17 political associations after careful screening of applications.

It is the second time Puntland State introduced local political associations after the failure of the first attempt in 2013 when the stakeholders described the initiative as non-consultative and opted out of the “democratisation process” spearheaded by the former Puntland President Abdirahman Farole. UDAD and Horseed, two of 2013 political associations are not in the new cohort of political associations registered with TPEC.

In December 2019 the electoral commission published guidelines for registering a political association. The registration of political parties lasted three months. Each political association submitted a constitution, details about founders and deposit of US$ 3,500.

A key requirement is that a political association must have at least 300 supporters in each of the six Puntland regions and that it should be civilian and not in possession of a paramilitary or militias. Some articles in the guidelines have left obligations of the central committee of a political association open to different interpretations. In translation Article 6 of guidelines reads: ” The central committee is required (sic) the first congress of the political association.”

Guled Salah: “Registered political associations must meet the rest of the criteria.”
Guled Salah, TPEC Chairman, said the registered “political associations met preliminary requirements. They are required to meet the rest of the criteria by 20 April 2020.”

© Puntland Post Monthly, 2020

 

[Farm]

Mideeye seems like heavyweight party.

They have already opened offices in Bari, Karkaar, Mudug, Sanaag and Nugaal

 

[TheMadMullah]

I would have joined Farah ali shire and Asad diyaano party but I’m not sure Asad being able and capable unless he builds his status in the next 3 years

 

[FBIsomalia]

Mideeye seems like heavyweight party.

They have already opened offices in Bari, Karkaar, Mudug, Sanaag and Nugaal

By the way Labor party is not easy one they open already 6 branches in PL


Buhoodle


Bossaso.

 

[FBIsomalia]

I would have joined Farah ali shire and Asad diyaano party but I’m not sure Asad being able and capable unless he builds his status in the next 3 years

Registration is over and now 17 parties try to finish second phase . Any party finish it will be official party in PL.

 

[TheMadMullah]

Registration is over and now 17 parties try to finish second phase . Any party finish it will be official party in PL.

I guess you mean for now new parties can’t be registered if am not wrong right?

but parties which are registered can registered members continuously and has no limitations when to open or stop. So I mean become a member of Farah Ali shire and Asad party since I heard they co-started a party

 

[FBIsomalia]

I guess you mean for now new parties can’t be registered if am not wrong right?

but parties which are registered can registered members continuously and has no limitations when to open or stop. So I mean become a member of Farah Ali shire and Asad party since I heard they co-started a party

For the first question yes is close now.

For the registration yes each party should have 300 member on each PL state. At the end of this month TPEC will announce the Political parties that finish registration and open minimum 6 branch across PL to be officially Political party to be part of regional council elections in 9 states 2021.

 

[FBIsomalia]

PUNTLAND POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS AND THE ROAD AHEAD

Garowe ( PPM ) – Puntland State is entering a new stage in its history. In March the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission unveiled seventeen political associations. How this large number of associations can contest in the limited political space of Puntland remains a mystery.

The origins of Puntland State lies in the initiative to form an autonomous administration consisting of several regions . Unlike Somaliland, which formed political parties that have a veneer of diversity but turned out to be tradition-bound and nepotistic, leaders of Puntland political associations realise that vagueness in their political programmes and clan-based nature of of politics make operating as a political association a hard sell.

Of the seventeen political associations, three parties will emerge after the end of local government elections “on the basis of one person, one vote”. Aware of the political completion ahead Mideeye (Unifier) has begun to campaign in Nugaal. In their Facebook accounts some political associations such as Kaah (Light) are already identifying themselves as political parties.

Puntland Minister for Aviation Hassan Gabiley has registered Kaah with TPEC. The incumbent political association plans to field Hassan Shire, the Finance Minister, as a prospective candidate for Puntland Presidential elections in 2024.

Key senior leadership members of Mideeye include Ali Haji Warsame, who served as Puntland Education Minister, and Abdi Farah Saeed, a former Federal Interior Minister.

Puntland Aviation Minister (second from left) registering Kaah with TPEC
President Deni reportedly distanced himself from “possible failure” of the democratisation process, making the TPEC the sole organisation charged with the task to bring the programme into fruition.

In the absence of clear rules that bar Kaah from using public resources for political purposes, remarks of President Deni forebode pitfalls into which the democratisation process can fall. Puntland State Government controls resources of the heavily centralised Federal Member State. TPEC is an organisation with a limited mandate. “President Deni is shirking his responsibility to form a consensus with stakeholders if he thinks only TPEC can no the job. TPEC plays the role of a facilitator. A repeat of 2013 fiasco must be prevented” Mursal Hassan, a member of Bosaso civil society told Puntland Post.

TPEC is mandated to organise local government elections through which three parties will come out on top. A new body, Puntland Electoral Commission, will take over from TPEC to conduct 2024 presidential elections in Puntland.

What remains to be hammered out are solutions to a possible constitutional crisis from the outcome of the planned local government elections. It is not clear how Puntland stakeholders will respond if Kaah is eliminated as a political association in local elections. Less clearer is the solution to the political problem that might crop up if a non-incumbent political association wins the largest number of constituencies in Puntland. President Deni might give in to calls for a coalition government that might be called for in such an eventuality.

Successful implementation of the democratisation in Puntland will emphasise decentralisation in a state that identifies itself as the progenitor of federalism in Somalia.

© Puntland Post Monthly, 2020