Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission (NEC), has rejected opposition claims that Monday’s presidential election was marred by irregularities and announced that they haven’t found any evidence supporting the claims.
NEC Chairman, Abdiqadir Iman, on Tuesday, issued the announcement during a Horn Cable TV interview, after receiving a complaint Somaliland’s main opposition party, Waddani.
“We have received a verbal complaint, from a Waddani delegation led by the party’s presidential candidate, Abdirahman Irro, on their concerns over how the vote was conducted in Gabiley region,” Iman said
“As NEC members, we take all complaints seriously, and conduct a prompt investigation into any complaint that we receive,” Iman said
“NEC spokesman, Said Ali Musa and I, went to Gabiley to further investigate the claims. We have not found any evidence proving that electoral laws were violated in the region on election day,” Iman said.
Iman also called on political parties to review the electoral laws and code of conduct during his interview with Horn Cable TV.
Senior Waddani officials also met with a high-level delegation from the European Union on Tuesday morning to forward their complaints over Monday’s presidential election.
Waddani’s transitional party chairman, Abdiqadir Haji Ismail Jirdeh, told reporters on Tuesday that his party strongly believes several irregularities took place during Monday’s election, and are preparing to take their case before the courts.
The International Election Observer Mission in Somaliland, and the EU delegation have yet to publicize their stance on Waddani’s claims of election irregularities.
Source: The National Somaliland
