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Somalia’s former chief Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been elected president after a last vote that was solely open to the nation’s MPs.
He defeated the present president, Mohamed Abudallahi Farmajo, who has been in workplace since 2017.
The poll was restricted to Somalia’s 328 MPs as a consequence of safety issues over holding a wider election, and one in all them didn’t forged a vote.
Mr Mohamud obtained 214 votes, defeating Mr Farmajo who received 110 votes.
Three MPs are reported to have spoiled their ballots.
The bizarre circumstances spotlight Somalia’s safety points in addition to the dearth of democratic accountability.
The outcome marks a comeback for Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who served as Somalia’s president between 2012 and 2017 earlier than he was defeated by Mr Farmajo.
The elections – which had been hotly contested and went to a 3rd spherical – had been delayed for nearly 15 months as a consequence of infighting and safety points.
Mr Mohamud was sworn in shortly after the ultimate outcomes had been introduced, prompting supporters within the capital to cheer and hearth weapons into the air. He’ll serve for the following 4 years.
Within the vote on Sunday, lots of of parliamentarians forged their ballots at a fortified plane hangar within the capital Mogadishu.
Explosions may very well be heard close by as voting was happening, however police mentioned no casualties had been reported.
Because the incoming president, Mr Mohamud should take care of the impression of an ongoing drought wherein the UN says 3.5 million Somalis are susceptible to extreme famine.
However the massive process he faces is to wrest management of a lot of Somalia from al-Shabab. The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group continues to dominate giant elements of the nation and carries out frequent assaults in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
The nation can also be being affected by meals and gas inflation sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.
The federal government is backed in its battle in opposition to al-Shabab by the African Union, within the form of some 18,000 troops and the United Nations.
The instability is among the explanation why Somalia has been unable to carry direct elections. Somalia has not had a one-person-one-vote democratic election since 1969.
That vote was adopted by a coup, dictatorship and battle involving clan militias and Islamist extremists.
That is solely the third time that the oblique election for president has been in a position to happen in Somalia itself. Earlier ones had been held in neighbouring Kenya and Djibouti.
How did the voting work?
This vote was speculated to have occurred final 12 months when Mr Farmajo’s four-year time period ended. However political variations and instability delayed the ballot and the president remained in energy.
The MPs who selected the brand new president had been themselves elected by delegates nominated by the nation’s highly effective clans.
They gathered in a big airport hangar within the well-guarded Halane Camp. That is the principle navy base of the AU’s mission in Somalia (Atmis), in addition to the house of diplomatic missions and help companies.
The voting, executed by secret poll, was delayed for hours as a consequence of prolonged safety checks.
Previous elections had been marred by allegations of vote-buying with candidates reportedly providing cash in alternate for help.
The one feminine candidate, former Overseas Minister Fawzia Yusuf Adam, was eradicated within the first spherical of voting.
What has al-Shabab mentioned?
In earlier elections, al-Shabab threatened and even kidnapped clan elders after condemning them for taking part in what it noticed as an un-Islamic ballot.
This time round, its response to the elections has been extra muted, with fears that its members or sympathisers could have secretly sought parliamentary seats in a bid to undermine the system from inside.
The concern was publicly expressed by neighbouring Djibouti’s President Omar Guelleh in 2020, when he was quoted as saying: “I concern we’ll find yourself with a parliament not directly managed by al-Shabab as a result of they will have purchased the help of a number of the MPs.”
Some analysts felt Mr Guelleh was exaggerating the potential of al-Shabab gaining a foothold in parliament, however there is no such thing as a doubt that it’s a main political drive in Somalia.
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