HARGEISA—Professorย Yasin said the group submittedย a lawsuit against the decision of the house of elders to extend the term of the houses of representatives and elders.
This is the secondย attempt of the group to challengeย against the decision of the council of elders in the court.
“Our ultimate objective was to show our people that we live in a countryย of laws. That it is possible for people to bring lawsuit. One of our first case was dismissed. We have brought this one as individuals. The defendantsย are a dozen of people. The court argument of our case was not addressed that there was no possible cause to extend the term for the bicameral parliament.” said Yasin
The group first challenged the decision of the council of elders at the beginningย of this month. They argued that the term extension was not in line with the constitution since there was no credible cause of extending the bicameral parliament.
Another leader argument of the group is that the extension enfranchisesย the constitutional rights of Somaliland citizens to choose their representatives.
However, the constitutional court dismissed the case within few days on the groundsย that it lacked the legal personalityย since it was not officially registered as an organization.
Professor Yasin said that he was nor hopefulย that the court will not rule justly on their case.
However, the group insisted on lodging the case.
He said to demonstrateย that Somaliland is a state of laws.
“Let us see what they do now. We will not stop even if our case is dismissedย again becauseย there is no other option. WE have to teach our people that they can lodge a case in courts and the constitutional court needs to listen to the people. Justice is the best interest for all of us.” said Yasin
Somaliland constitutionalย court has neverย reversed a term extensionย made by the house of elders.
The group of National Consultation and Rectification Forum compromises of retired politicians and former veteran officers of Somali National Movement (SNM).
