The Eu­ro­pean Union (EU) on Fri­day called on newly elected So­mali law­mak­ers to tackle po­lit­i­cal and se­cu­rity as well as gov­er­nance chal­lenges to help re­build the Horn of Africa na­tion.

Wel­com­ing the elec­tion of par­lia­men­tar­i­ans for both Up­per and Lower Houses, the EU urged them to fo­cus on con­sen­sus-build­ing and rec­on­cil­i­a­tion; pro­vid­ing gov­er­nance, ser­vices and se­cu­rity to the peo­ple.

The Eu­ro­pean bloc also urged the in­com­ing po­lit­i­cal lead­er­ship to build a cred­i­ble and ca­pa­ble se­cu­rity sec­tor and con­sol­i­date the con­sti­tu­tional ba­sis that should un­der­pin So­ma­li­a’s state-build­ing pro­ject.

“The EU del­e­ga­tion and mem­ber states ex­press the hope that, with the in­com­ing po­lit­i­cal lead­er­ship of the coun­try, the newly elected par­lia­men­tar­i­ans will now fo­cus on the chal­lenges at hand,” the state­ment said.

The EU said the just con­cluded elec­tion of speak­ers is an im­por­tant step in So­ma­li­a’s po­lit­i­cal tran­si­tion that will al­low the Horn of Africa na­tion to soon con­clude the in­di­rect par­lia­men­tary elec­toral process that started in 2016.

“The newly elected par­lia­men­tar­i­ans will now, through their ac­tions, have to earn the trust and con­fi­dence of the So­mali peo­ple,” it said and lauded the progress made dur­ing this elec­toral process.

The EU said the process has largely been peace­ful in spite of the volatile se­cu­rity con­text, in­volved a far greater num­ber of elec­tors, and has taken place across So­ma­lia.

Though falling short of meet­ing the 30 per­cent po­lit­i­cal com­mit­ment, the EU said, real progress has been made with re­gard to wom­en’s rep­re­sen­ta­tion.

“This now needs to trans­late into greater op­por­tu­nity and voice for women and youth in So­mali pol­i­tics and so­ci­ety,” said the EU.

“The EU how­ever said the elec­toral process was marred by in­tim­i­da­tion, cor­rup­tion and ma­nip­u­la­tion by stake­hold­ers, and with most of the man­dated elec­toral and dis­pute res­o­lu­tion bod­ies not be­ing able to ful­fill their role as ex­pected.

“Lessons must be learned from this process to en­sure the So­mali peo­ple are al­lowed to fully em­brace their de­mo­c­ra­tic rights in the fu­ture. Not only should all So­ma­lis have a chance to ex­er­cise these rights, but there should be no place for in­tim­i­da­tion and ma­nip­u­la­tion, for cor­rup­tion, im­punity and vi­o­lence,” it said.

Ac­cord­ing to the EU, So­ma­lia needs strong, in­de­pen­dent in­sti­tu­tions for the de­mo­c­ra­tic gains to be­come a re­al­ity and called upon the newly elected par­lia­men­tar­i­ans to un­der­take this im­por­tant task with in­tegrity and fore­sight.