The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) has held two days public forum on the 5thand 6th February, 2016 in a bid to open space for dialogue within the community of Awdal on the subject of the issue of House of Representatives regional seat allocations avers. The event followed the consultation meetings that the House of Representatives sub-committee of internal affairs had fulfilled in Awdal region with the different sectors of the society as part of nationwide consultations to be carried out in the six regions of Somaliland on the House of Representatives election law.
The event was invited to the difference sectors of Awdal community including sultans, Aqils, youth, women, minority groups, intellectuals and other titled individuals to converse about the concern.
The event was chaired by the Executive director of APD Mr. Mohamed Farah and the Operations manager of APD Mr. Hassan Halas. The management of APD appreciated to the different participants for their coming into to the event. Mr. Hassan Halas who made the introduction remarks about the event said: “the purpose we hold this event relates to a subject matter that has been in the media and discourse issue among the Somaliland public in the recent days which concerns about the profess of regional seat allocations in the House of Representatives of Somaliland”. He added: “we, APD, based on our institutional mandate to fulfill researches relating to democratization, are holding this event to research and address the issue to find solution for it, in the general good of Somaliland”.
Also the directors of APD Mr. Mohamed Farah who spoke to the participants of the event noted: “We are more familiar of our democratization process relating to the House of Representatives, we remember that in 2004 the matter of regional seat allocations had hindered the holding of House of Representatives election, and today a year ahead of planned 2017 elections, the same problem is apparent”. Mr. Mohamed added: “There are three mattering issues underlying in the House of Representatives election law which are the seats allocations claims, the quota seats for women, and the minority representations; for that sense, we are here to provide space for discourse on these issues between the public and as well support the constitutional public institutions of the parliament and the political parties to come up a solution for the problem in order to hold free and fair elections and have a adequately representatives of Somaliland people in the House of Representatives”.
However, the different participants of sultans, aqils, youth, women, minority, intellectuals and titled individuals had proposed their outlook about the issue, particularly, for the Awdal region community.
