Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Supreme Court has thrown out the results of last month’s contested House of Representatives and local council elections in Galmudug State, ordering that voters return to the polls.
Chief Justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed said the vote must be held again because the election process departed from constitutional standards requiring elections to be free, fair and impartial.
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The case was filed by the Towfiiq political organization, one of the groups that contested the Galmudug elections.
Towfiiq Party Chairman Sheikh Mohamed Shakir Ali Hassan welcomed the judgment, saying it addressed the organization’s complaints over the announced results.
“We filed a lawsuit. We were complaining about the results of the electoral commission,” Sheikh Shakir told BBC Somali. “We are grateful to the Supreme Court for showing confidence in all Somalis, and to the lawyers of Towfiiq who made the extra effort.”
Sheikh Shakir said Towfiiq’s legal challenge centered on alleged breaches of electoral procedures that compromised the vote’s fairness and freedom.
“It is truly an issue that has touched all of Somalia, not just the Towfiiq organization,” he said. “It is a matter of hope for Somalis that has increased. The aspirations of all organizations have increased.”
He said the party’s lawyers presented audio recordings, video footage and written documents in support of its allegations.
The Supreme Court said it reached its decision after considering Somalia’s constitutional provisions and the electoral law approved by the country.
Towfiiq and other political organizations that participated in the elections had disputed the outcome, maintaining that it breached electoral legislation.
Towfiiq had rejected the official results from Galmudug’s first one-person, one-vote local council elections, alleging that the Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission manipulated the count and failed to represent voters’ choices.
The party said the commission’s announcement weakened public trust because, in its account, the figures did not correspond with tallies documented by its representatives at polling stations.
The commission had declared the ruling Justice and Solidarity Party, headed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the election’s winner.
According to NIEBC Chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, the Justice and Solidarity Party secured 135,247 of the 193,451 valid votes cast, winning 63 of the 189 local council seats contested across Galmudug.
Towfiiq placed second with 26,003 votes and took 12 seats. Sincad won six seats with 12,862 votes, while Karaamo secured five seats after receiving 10,668 votes.
The electoral commission had not issued a public response to Towfiiq’s accusations or said whether it planned to reconsider the results before the Supreme Court delivered its ruling.
– With files from the BBC Somali Service
