Somalia registers 39 candidates for presidential race

Mogadishu, May 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) Somalia's joint parliamentary committee responsible for organising the presidential election said it has registered 39 candidates who will take part in the polls scheduled for Sunday.

The committee, which concluded two days of registration of the candidates including incumbent President Mohamed Farmaajo, said only one female candidate expressed her interest in running for the country's top office, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to a list compiled by the committee, former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire; two former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, respectively; and several former ministers are among those who will take part in the long-awaited election.

The committee said 329 lawmakers from both houses -- 54 from the Senate or Upper House and 275 from the Lower House -- will elect the country's 10th President.

The candidates will address Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday on their policies.

The election will coincide with a historic day as the country will also commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Somali Youth League formed on May 15, 1943 by 13 young activists who spearheaded the struggle for a united and an independent country in the 1940s and 1950s.

The presidential election, which is 15 months behind schedule due to Covid-19, severe drought, insecurity and differences among leaders, comes after Somalia concluded parliamentary polls in April.

In order to be elected as President, a candidate must garner at least two-thirds or 184 of the votes of both chambers.

The vote will take place amid tight security due to an upsurge in terror attacks by al-Shabab militants opposed to the electoral process in Somalia.

Somalia last held one-person, one-vote elections in March 1969 when the government was overthrown in a military coup.

Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in late 2016 and early 2017 through a system of indirect suffrage.

Source: IANS