Hargeisa (SD) – Somaliland lawmakers have agreed to postpone a vote on the country’s Electoral Law by two days, after MPs from Awdal region left the assembly, expressing concern over the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives.

Lawmaker Omar Sanweyne, a member of the Somaliland House of Representatives, called on the House and the Speaker to listen to the concerns of lawmakers from Awdal region and address their concerns.

“A number of parliamentarians have submitted a proposal to me. The proposal is that Somaliland is inclusive, the Constitution encourages Consultation and is the basis of the Constitution.” Said the Lawmaker.

Adding “These days, while we were in the process of drafting this Electoral Law, MPs, were missing, so on behalf of those MPs who asked me to represent them, we are proposing that, as we are missing fellow MPs representing those regions, the election law vote should be postponed for two days,” said MP Omar Sanweyne.

Ahmed Yasin Sheikh Ali Ayanle, the first deputy speaker of the Somaliland House of Representatives who hails from Awdal, chaired today’s session and appointed an 11-member parliamentary committee to address the concerns of lawmakers from the Awdal and Sool regions.

Parliamentarians and communities across Somaliland’s Eastern and western regions are dissatisfied with their share of MP’s in the country’s House of Representatives.

The country’s constitutional court recently approved the use of the previous 2005 electoral law to be used for the 2020 elections, effectively dismissing the seat sharing issues forwarded by the effected regions of Sool and Awdal.