Sunday, May 15, 2022

Somalia election: 32 candidates edged out, four proceed to second round

Somalia vote.

A Somali citizen votes at a polling station in 2016. PHOTO | AFP

By ABDULKADIR KHALIF

Mogadishu,

Thirty-two of the 36 candidates for Somalia’s presidential election were eliminated in

the first round of voting on Sunday, leaving four contenders to battle it out for the presidency.

The much first round of Somalia’s presidential election started around 2.30pm, with 36 candidates present when members of the House of the People began casting ballots in three transparent glass boxes.

An initial 39 candidates registered for the contest, but on Saturday two quit the race. On Sunday, another also pulled out of the election, leaving 36 contenders on the ballot.

Just before the election began, the Speaker of the bicameral presidential election committee, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, told the plenary that Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Dahir Mohamud Guled and Abdinasir Abdulle had quit the race.

“As a result of the 3 candidates quitting the contest, there are 36 remaining in the race,” he said.

In the first round of voting, Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni led with 65 votes, followed by incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo with 59 votes. Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud garnered 52 votes while the former Prime Minister got 47 votes.

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed received 39 votes, placing him at position 5.

All the other candidates did not receive sufficient votes to proceed to the next round, with Ms Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam, former Foreign Minister and only female candidate, getting one vote and 20 contestants getting no vote.

Speaker of the House of the People (Lower House), Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur Madobe, then announced that the top four candidates will participate in the second round of the election.

328 legislators voted in the first round.

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List of top candidates in the first round:

  1. Said Abdullahi Deni: 65
  2. Mohamed A. Farmaajo: 59
  3. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: 52
  4. Hassan Ali Khaire: 47
  5. Sharif Sheikh Ahmed: 39
  6. Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame: 15
  7. Abdulkadir Osoble: 12
  8. Adow Ali Gaas: 8

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