Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of whether the ongoing election process in Somalia is free and fair; and if he will take steps to encourage the government of Somalia to increase the number of Somalian people able to vote in that election.

​Somalia is in transition and partway through an electoral process due to culminate with the election of a new President by 30 November. It is vital that the process is transparent, credible and safe; and that commitments to make the process more inclusive, including increasing female representation, are fully respected. The 2016 process is a stepping stone to one person one vote elections scheduled for 2020. It builds on the 2012 process where only 135 elders voted; this year over 14,000 will vote, and the voting will take place beyond Mogadishu.