Somalia's Parliament Fails To Elect New President - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2022) The Somali parliament failed to elect a new president in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday with four candidates with the highest number of votes going into a runoff, Somali radio Dalsan reported, citing exit polls.

None of the 36 candidates secured the required two-thirds of the votes in the first round. Puntland region President Said Abdulahi Deni became the leader of the first round receiving 65 votes. He is followed by incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo, with 59 votes. Ex-President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud secured 52 votes and ex-Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire gained 47, providing them the opportunity to run for the presidency in the second round.

The second round is expected to begin soon after the first round.

Voting takes place in an airport hangar in the Somali capital Mogadishu, which is under the protection of peacekeepers of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Media reported earlier on Sunday that the fortified airport has been shelled with mortars.

Somalia collapsed as a unified nation in 1991 with the downfall of Siad Barre's dictatorship. The international community recognized the Federal government as the only legitimate authority in the country, which controls the capital Mogadishu and several other areas. The rest of Somalia is controlled by self-governed or unrecognized state entities, including the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland in the north and the autonomous Puntland region in the northeast.