DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD ON TIME?
IF YES, YOU WERE SLEEPING, WAKE UP!
Today, November 9, 2025, is 6 months and 22 days until the joint elections for the House of Representatives and Local Councils, which are scheduled for May 31, 2026.
So, the question worth asking is: Can the elections for the local councils and the House of Representatives be held at that time?
1. ELECTION VOTER REGISTRATION
Whether a New Election Voter Registration System Begins Today Or a Reopening of Election Voter Registration
a). If a decision is made to conduct a new registration, it can be expected to take more than 6 months or more. If we use past experience
For example, the Voter Registration for the last Somaliland election began in the country on 16 January 2016 with a month-long period allocated to each region, but it officially ended in September 2016.
So if the new registration process starts today, when will it end?
Suppose it takes six months, will it be enough for the elections?
It is clear that it will not be enough!
b) Again, if the Voter Registration Reopening Process were to start today, how long would it take?
If we take the last one, it took 2 months!
This is in contradiction with the General Law on Elections and Voter Registration in Somaliland No.91.
ARTICLE 42, PARAGRAPH 2, which states that it is mandatory for every election to be announced or completed SIX MONTHS before the polling day.
The six months mentioned in the law and the two months during which registration is ongoing are eight months, which means that neither of the two types of Voter Registration in Somaliland will cover the period remaining before the election.
2. ON ELECTION LAWS
General Law on Elections & Voter Registration91
When the various laws on elections (Local Councils, Presidency, Representatives and Voter Registration) were unified and issued as the General Law on Elections and Voters (Law No. 91/2020), important provisions that were previously included in the previous laws were removed.
According to the ELECTION LAW OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES No2/202005, ARTICLE 12, paragraphs 5, 6 and 7. These were the procedures to be followed if the election of representatives in Somaliland could not be held in a District or Region, which were as follows:-
a. (5) If a region of the country is faced with difficult circumstances or conditions that do not allow for elections to be held, the National Electoral Commission will assess and make a decision on those conditions, upon mutual agreement between the Government and the National Parties.
b. (6) In polling stations where elections are not held, the number of seats allocated to those stations shall be divided among the parties in proportion to the total number of valid votes received in the region.
c. (7) If, however, the elections are not held in an entire region, the parties shall receive seats in that region in proportion to the total number of valid votes they received in the country. This shall be done in accordance with their names.”
So that article is now ARTICLE 77, RULE 91.
It needs to be added to the paragraphs we mentioned above.
What about the Council that wants an extension of time that depends on the law being amended? Will it do it!?
It's not, and I wonder if I got rain where I wanted!
PLEASE TELL ME THE POSSIBILITY OF HOLDING THE ELECTIONS FOR LOCAL COUNCILS AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON 31 MAY 2026.
