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The Somali Technical Selection Committee (TSC), charged with overseeing the selection of members of the new parliament, announced an extension of the deadline for receiving the lists of candidates to Thursday (August 9th).

The TSC had initially set Wednesday as the deadline for receiving the lists from the 135 tribal leaders currently meeting in Mogadishu.

"We have decided to give the tribal leaders who have been unable to give us the names of their representatives a chance to choose the remaining candidates," said Abdullahi Osman, head of the TSC. "It is not possible for us to close the door in the face of the tribal leaders."

The committee is extending the deadline for 24 hours, Osman told Sabahi. "The tribal leaders had to select their representatives before August 5th, but they were unable to commit to that date and then they failed again to respect the August 8th deadline. Now, we cannot accept any more setbacks," he said.

He said the committee asked the tribal leaders to honour this deadline and hasten the selection process to complete the list. "We do not have much time left and we cannot wait any longer," he said.

Many tribal leaders said the selection process is going slowly due to interference in the selection process from political leaders and senior government officials.

"Government officials are trying to influence tribal leaders to appoint representatives who will vote for them in the upcoming elections," tribal leader Ali Abdirahman told Sabahi.

The TSC announced this week that it received names for 70% of the new lawmakers.

Osman said the committee will start reviewing the records of selected candidates to confirm their eligibility according to criteria established in the Garowe agreements.

The TSC has absolute powers to cancel the nomination of any member who has not met the criteria required for members of parliament, he said. These criteria include an age requirement of 25 to 75 years, minimum secondary-school education and no criminal record.