The Foundation supports a constitutional review meeting in Baidoa, South West State of Somalia
From 20 to 21 March 2021, the Max Planck Foundation supported the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs of South West State at a public consultations meeting held in the regional capital of Baidoa. The purpose of the meeting was to collect feedback on the third draft constitutional amendment document from representatives from various civil society organisations in South West State.
The Foundation facilitated the discussions by providing an overview of the main activities and achievements of the constitutional review process from 2017-2021; as well as the main ideas and suggestions of the third draft constitutional amendment document developed by the Constitutional Oversight Committee (OC) and the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission (ICRIC). Thereafter, the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs of South West State presented on the State’s earlier comments and submissions collected at various public consultations in South West State on the second draft constitutional amendment document. To conclude this process in South West State, the Ministry then urged participants to provide further feedback on the third draft constitutional amendment document, which will be submitted to the OC, the ICRIC and the (federal) Ministry of Constitutional Affairs for their consideration.
The meeting was lively, and participants engaged actively in the discussions on further submissions on the third draft constitutional amendment document.
The Ministry of Constitutional Affairs of South West State pledged to raise these points at an interregional consultation meeting organised by the Constitutional Oversight Committee of the Somali Federal Parliament, the ICRIC and the (federal) Ministry of Constitutional Affairs scheduled to take place in Mogadishu later this month.
Public consultations held not only in Mogadishu but in all parts of Somalia are a prerequisite for the finalisation of the Somali constitutional review process. The Foundation continues to support this important process through the provision of technical and legal advice offered in the framework of the European Union-funded project “Legal Capacity Building and Technical Support for the Somali Federal Parliament”.