Elders leader defends local and parliamentary term extensions

SOMALILAND.COM – The speaker of Somaliland’s House of Elders, Suleiman Mohamud Adan, defended the term extension for both chambers of parliament maintaining that no election will be held before that.

In a defiant speech, the speaker urged the opposition parties to accept the reality that elections will only be held at the scheduled time. He accused them of exaggerating the dispute over the elections.

The speaker was opening the seventy-first session of the House of Elders today.

Last year, the house of elders extended the term of the House of Representatives by two years postponing the local and parliamentary election in the process. This delay was not welcomed by the opposition parties and proved not popular with the public.

Somaliland is caught in the middle of an electoral impasse that threatens the legitimacy of most of its government branches. Except for the president, all other elected officials have grossly overstated their term in office – the parliament by fifteen years, and local governments by three.