Somali lawmakers have begun to vote in a crucial presidential race
for the future of the country...
Vote will determine the direction this strategically located nation will take, as two main forces – centralists and federalists – are battling it out.
Pres. Farmajo (second right) sandwiched between 2 ex-presidents, Ahmed (right) and Mohamud (left)
By The Star Staff Writer
Under a tight security and amid a huge interest by ordinary citizens who are not voting, Somali lawmakers have begun to cast their ballots in a high-stakes presidential election whose result is likely to reverberate throughout the country emerging from decades of war, terrorism, famines and unhelpful foreign interference.
The vote — delayed by more than a year as a result of political bickering between the president and the prime minister — will determine the future direction of this strategically located nation, as two main forces – centralists and federalists – are battling it out.
While Somalia is tentatively a federal country, yet President President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo” has been working hard to chip away at the system, which many Somalis believe was imposed by foreign countries bent on disintegrating their country into a weak, clan-based fiefdoms.
President Farmajo, a front runner whose term ended more than a year and three months ago, has arrived at the tent, where lawmakers are casting their ballots to elect a leader who will be in charge of the country for the coming four years.
“The Head of State assures our citizens & supporters that #Somalia shall witness peaceful elections which shall end with huge victory for the Somali people & continuity of reforms,” said Abdirashid M. Hashi, the Presidency’s director of communications, in a tweet.
Lawmakers were briefly entertained by a Somali song, whose lyrics included “Parliament, fulfill your promise” and “Parliament, fullfill your duty.”
An unwieldy phalanx of 36 candidates, including the incumbent, two former presidents and a former prime minister, are running for the top seat. Three more candidates have withdrawn from the race, even after forking over a US$40,000 registration fee.
According to Somalia’s provisional constitution, a winner must get a two-thirds majority of the total votes cast by lawmakers from the two houses of parliament, or 219 votes. If no candidate clears that threshold in the first round, a second round will be held for the four candidates with the highest number of votes from the first round. For a candidate to win in the second round, he must get 219 votes.
If no candidate secures the necessary two-thirds majority in the second round, a third round will be held, and in this round the two candidates with the highest number of votes from the second round will slug it out. In the third round, the winner will be the candidate who gets the largest number of votes.