MOGADISHU, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The international community has called on Somali authorities to step up efforts to enact a new electoral law crucial for the country's elections due around late 2020 and early 2021.
The international partners including the African Union, EU and the UN among others called on the Parliament to finalize an implementable law without delay to avoid a risk of political instability.
"In order for elections to be held on time, it is essential that an implementable electoral law is adopted as a matter of priority, in keeping with the Mutual Accountability Framework agreed between partners and the Somali authorities in October 2019," they said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday evening.
Somalia, with the help of partners, is making urgent preparations for universal suffrage elections, which will be the first of its kind after more than two decades since the outbreak of the civil war that followed the collapse of the Somali government in 1992.
The partners have held a series of meetings in recent weeks with key stakeholders in the electoral process including with the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) on the electoral law and security for the elections.
According to the UN, Somalia last held one-person, one-vote elections in March 1969 when the government was overthrown in a bloodless military coup.
