The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) Michael Keating and the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia Francisco Madeira visited Cadaado to assess the progress made in the elections of the Lower House of Somalia’s Federal Parliament.

Galmudug state elected two more members of the Lower House, bringing the number of those elected so far to 23, among which are four women.

Keating and Madeira held productive discussions with the President of Galmudug State, Abdikarim Hussein Guled, about the ongoing electoral process and raised the issue of women’s representation.

Afterwards, President Guled described the meeting as fruitful, promising that Galmudug State will do all it takes to ensure timely completion of the elections.

“We discussed issues surrounding the elections and how the process is going on. We discussed how we could ensure the timely completion of the electoral process. We promised them that by Wednesday next week, the elections would be over,” President Guled said.

The special representatives also met with the electoral teams, women groups and members of the civil society to discuss ways of ensuring Galmudug State can meet the 30 percent women’s representation rule.

“The good news is that two thirds of the Lower House would be completed by today. We have met with the SIEIT [State Indirect Electoral Implementation Team], representatives of FIEIT [Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team] and women’s groups. We commend that the process is taking place safely, thanks to the support received from AMISOM,” said SRSG Keating.

The SRSG added that the challenges facing the process had also been discussed with the concerned parties.

“I urge you to do everything to make sure that the women quota is respected and the seats allocated to women in sub clans which have 3 seats and more is respected,” the SRSG added.