MOGADISHU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's electoral committee has set April 14 for the swearing-in of the elected members of two chambers of the country's Parliament after again missing the self-imposed deadline for the completion of the Lower House elections.
The Federal Elections Implementation Team (FEIT) revised the timetable for the completion of the remaining elections of 39 seats for the House of the People, the Lower House. The elections were due to be completed on March 15.
"The swearing-in ceremony of the elected members of two chambers of Somalia's Federal Parliament will be held on April 14," FEIT said in its revised timetable released Tuesday evening.
The electoral committee said it expects elections to be completed by March 31, noting that all lawmakers of both Houses will be summoned to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, by April 4 ahead of the swearing-in.
Somalia, which has already missed several deadlines, expects to complete the remaining 39 of 275 seats in Hirshabelle, Jubaland and Puntland states by the end of the month.
Analysts say the failure to complete the elections of the Lower House in time will further delay the vote for a new president and thus extend the political crisis engulfing the country facing escalated drought, COVID-19 and insecurity.
According to the FEIT, only 236 out of 275 lawmakers of the House of People of Parliament have been elected in the country which has struggled to elect new lawmakers due to disputes over the composition of electoral bodies, insufficient funds, insecurity and political mistrust among leaders.
The 54-member Senate and the 275 members of the Lower House are expected to jointly elect a new president later in 2022. ■