This archive report was first published on 12 August 2019.
On August 8, 2019, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' Special Representative to Somalia James Swan wrote a letter to Jubbaland Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Hamza Abdi Barre, cautioning against interference or intimidation in the electoral process.
The letter, which was signed on behalf of the UN Assistance Mission to Somalia (Unsom), the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (Igad), Kenya, African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), Austria, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, the European Union, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US, urged the federal government to use one mode of voting to avoid conflict.
Swan's statement came after Madobe's rivals announced a parallel electoral commission, known as the Union of Presidential candidates for Change in Jubbaland, which is composed of politicians who have been ruled out of the contest for failing to meet the tough criteria set by the Jubbaland electoral agency.
The group had demanded the relisting of the elders' council meant to elect MPs, arguing that it was biased and called for local and international observers.
However, the Jubbaland electoral agency rejected the demands, and Ugas Omar Hiirey, the spokesman of the Jubbaland Council of Elders, defended the list as genuine, refuting claims of the opposition group and the federal government in Mogadishu.
Experts on Somalia argue that the UN's stand could boost Madobe's chances as his allies have defended him for sticking to Jubbaland laws.
