Somalia’s lawmakers met inside a fortified airport hangar on Sunday to choose a president for an African country beset by Islamist violence, catastrophic drought and food shortages.
The election, delayed for more than a year, has been a source of frustration for the U.S. and other Western countries worried that political upheaval is providing a boost to al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda affiliate that holds sway in parts of rural Somalia and has carried out devastating attacks in Mogadishu, the capital. The country, perched on the Horn of Africa, is also experiencing drought that has left some six million people facing acute food insecurity and 1.4 million children under the age of five with acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations.
“We urge Somalia’s leaders to conclude this final stage of the electoral process swiftly, peacefully and credibly so that attention can turn to domestic and state-building priorities,” the United Nations, European Union, U.S., U.K. and other international entities said in a statement last week.
The vote pits incumbent
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
against nearly three dozen contenders, including
Said Abdullahi Deni,
president of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, in the country’s northeast, and former President
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
In the first round of voting, Mr. Deni lead with 65 of 329 votes, followed closely by Mr. Mohamed, widely known by his nickname “Farmaajo,” with 61 votes and Mr. Ahmed with 52 votes. Two more voting rounds were expected Sunday evening, with candidates expected to form last-minute alliances in order to secure the required majority to win.
Mr. Mohamed drew criticism by persuading parliament to extend his term, which was supposed to end two years ago. His campaign appeared to falter in recent weeks after his allies failed to win key roles in parliament, analysts say.
International donors have grown exasperated by the repeated election delays, presenting Somali authorities with a May 17 deadline to either hold the vote or risk losing critical funding, including a $400 million emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund.
A candidate must clinch a majority from Somali lawmakers to win the presidency.
Photo:
Farah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press
The voting comes as President Biden is deciding whether to approve a Pentagon request to station hundreds of U.S. commandos in Somalia to help local forces fight al-Shabaab. Then-President
Donald Trump
pulled American troops from the country shortly before leaving office last year, a move that U.S. commanders say has strengthened the insurgents.
At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened Somalia’s food shortage just as the rains appear to be failing for the third straight season. Somalia normally buys between 49% and 59% of its wheat from Ukraine, and another 33% to 43% from Russia, according to the U.N.
An uptick in violence, orchestrated by al-Shabaab, as well as infighting among the country’s tattered security forces raised fears of widespread instability ahead of the election results. The government announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Mogadishu on Sunday, and most shops and streets were deserted, according to witnesses. Last week, four people, including two government soldiers, were killed and at least seven injured when a suicide bomber attacked a security checkpoint near a political rally at the heavily fortified airport, police said.
The U.S. Embassy and many international organizations are situated within the airport security bubble.
When he came to power in 2017, Mr. Mohamed promised to work toward one-person-one-vote elections rather than the parliament-based indirect presidential balloting. But, amid widespread insecurity, his government retained the existing system.
“Security, economic reforms and good governance will remain my top priorities,” Mr. Mohamed said in a recent speech to parliament.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at [email protected]
Corrections & Amplifications
The winner of the Somali presidential election is determined in the final round by a simple majority of the votes from members of parliament. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said a two-thirds majority was required. (Corrected on May 15)
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