By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Apart from post elections violence the actual voting in the Djibouti parliamentary elections was held in a free and fair manner.
This is as per a lengthily report by the Somaliland Journalists Association-SOLJA which was one of the international election mission representing 142 in the parliamentary elections held on 22nd February 2013.
Being a media based organization SOLJA was mostly impressed by the state owned media both electronic and print that treated the ruling and opposition parties and their candidate’s equal opportunity.
“The performance of the government media the only in Djibouti is commendable” says the report
SOLJA which also commends the Djibouti election commission for a successful and constitutionally apt election process that it attributes to that country’s election law amended in 2012 thus actually facilitating, for the first, the election of opposition candidates to parliamentary.
The two member election observer mission report was drafted by the SOLJA secretary General who is an experienced election having performed similar activities in Ethiopia and during the referendum in South Sudan
According to SOLJA campaigns for the 65 parliamentary seat contested by the three parties of UMP.USN and CDU were performed in a peaceful manner with the opposition rallies drawing out large numbers of supporters who displayed jubilance in their new democratic freedoms.
While the lengthily report is available from SOLJA website as well on request, below is the full verbatim excerpts of the report portion on SOLJA’s perceptions.
“In a nut shell the parliamentary elections held on the 22nd Feb in Djibouti were conducted in a free and fair manner and ended peacefully”
For a full copy of the report visit www.Solja.com
Or contact email:soljajour@gmail.com
Mohamed-Rashid Muhumed Farah, SOLJA secretary general
