Hargeisa (SD) – The thee Somaliland National parties contesting for the upcoming parliamentary and local council elections have given women limited spots to run.
Of the 82 candidates campaigning for a seat in the House of Representatives, only 13 are females, writer Barkhad Dahir analyzed in a recent report.
Somaliland Electoral Commission on Thursday announced the final list of candidates for next month’s House of Representatives elections.
Given the total number of candidates in the six Somaliland constituencies, there are 246 candidates running for the 82-seat lower house of parliament.
It is worth noting that the Parliament whose term is coming to an end has one female MP.
The number of female candidates running for office is 13, or 5%, contradicting an agreement reached a few months ago by the three political parties Wadani, Kulmiye and UCID on the number of women candidates for the 31st parliamentary elections.
The agreement provided for equal distribution of seats in each region, with at least 18 women candidates in the House of Representatives.
The agreement between the parties comes after a long-running bill failed to pass, it was to provide a 22% quota in the House of Representatives and the Constituent Assembly for women and minorities, with a focus on overcoming cultural and other barriers to their participation in government.
The majority of women running are in the Sahil region with 38%, UCID being the party that gave the most chances to women running for the House of Representatives.
Neither of the other two parties, the ruling Kulmiye party or the main opposition party Wadani, has not nominated any women in three regions of the country, although the number of candidates given an opportunity varies.
This is a clear indication of the power-sharing grievances in the country and how the parties are part of this massive problem.
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