Somalia's new president to be chosen by politicians behind barricades

 

Election banners of Somali presidential candidates are seen along a street in Mogadishu, Somalia. May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

 

 

Parliamentarians in Somalia convened on Sunday in a strongly defended airport hangar to elect a new president, a vote that is necessary to keep international help flowing to the poor country beset by three decades of civil strife.

 

Former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud were the frontrunners in a crowded field of 35 candidates, according to observers, despite the fact that their policies failed to curb corruption or an Islamist terrorist insurgency.

 

According to Reuters, the United Nations-backed vote was delayed by over a year due to squabbling in government but must be held this month to ensure a $400 million International Monetary Fund programme.

 

It takes place during the Horn of Africa nation's worst drought in four decades, and against a depressingly familiar background of violence due to attacks by al Shabaab rebels, in-fighting among security forces and clan rivalries.

 

On Wednesday, a suicide bomb claimed by al Shabaab injured seven people during political rallies near the hangar in the coastal capital Mogadishu.

 

On Friday, fighters from a Sufi Muslim group battled government forces in Galmudug state. There was a curfew across Mogadishu on Sunday, with streets quiet and shops closed.

 

Though just holding the process was a success of sorts, many in the country of 15 million people were skeptical of real progress. Leading candidates were old faces recycled from the past who had done little to help them, and such votes were traditionally dominated by bribery, they complained.

 

After losing support in last month's legislative vote, incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, dubbed "Farmaajo" for his alleged fondness of Italian formaggio cheese, was unlikely to be re-elected.

 

Somalia is still unable to hold a direct popular vote due to insecurity, with the government having little control beyond the capital. African Union peacekeepers guarded the site within an Iraq-style "Green Zone" as politicians arrived, chatted and listened to traditional music.

 

Two or three rounds of voting were expected, with a result likely by late evening.

 

"The only hope we have is this election," said medical student Nur Ibrahim.

 

"There is no life in Somalia. We study and then get bombed by terrorists. If there is no peace, education has no use."

 

As well as former presidents Ahmed (2009-2012) and Mohamud (2012-2017), the head of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Said Abdulahi Deni, also has a good chance, analysts say.