Garowe (Editorial ) — The Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission went on record in 2021 for overseeing the first local pilot elections conducted at three districts. It has won plaudits for the outcome of the elections, but of late its role in overseeing the second phase of the democratisation process in Puntland is being called into question.
TPEC issued a judgement on an intra-association dispute but sided with one of the factions. The TPEC judgement violates its guidelines particularly article 5, sub article 2, on how to handle disarmament within a pollical organisation’s: “An organisation may lose its status if it fails to resolve its differences”. This article bars TPEC from taking a side in any disagreement within an organisation.
TPEC’s judgements on Mideeye and the Workers’ Political Organisation are based on separate correspondence and interviews with opposing factions. TPEC has no a mandate to pass a judgement on a rift with a political organisation.
Several factors contribute to high-handedness of TPEC. One is the vagueness int the articles in the guidelines. For example, Article 5, sub article 1 reads: “No political association should submit false or wrong information to TPEC”. This article gives TPEC a free reign to pass a judgement and, in the words of a former Mideeye senior member “an opportunity to become a political tool for the incumbent administration”. There is a difference between false information and wrong information, the former implies intentionality, the latter hints at inadvertence.
President Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland Sate of Somalia reiterated that his administration “is keen on finalising the second phase of the democratisation process by holding elections in the rest of Puntland State districts”. If TPEC operates on guidelines that preclude some pollical organisations from enjoying a level playing field the accusation that the incumbent administration exploits those weaknesses at the expense of the other political organisations cannot be dismissed as baseless allegations.
The responsibility to hold a summit for pollical stakeholders to thrash out differences and ensure that TPEC does not get reduced to a cheerleader lies with President Deni. He must order a review of TPEC guidelines in light of criticisms made by several Puntland political organisations.
© Puntland Post, 2022
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