Wednesday September 29, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Delegates from the northern regions of Somaliland will elect six members to Somalia's Upper House of Parliament on Wednesday.
The Northern Region Electoral Commission has announced the candidates running today for the six seats in the Upper House of the Northern regions of Somaliland.
The senate-hopefuls made their pitch to the delegates yesterday at the Afisioni Tent in Mogadishu.
The first seat will be contested by Abdi Hashi Abdillahi, the Speaker of the Upper House, and Said Omar Hussein.
Speaker Hashi initially ran unopposed for the seat; however, Somalia's Deputy PM, Mahdi Gulaid, announced a candidate to run against Hashi at the eleventh hour following consultations with clan elders.
The second seat will be contested by Salah Ahmed Jama, the FGS Minister of Constitution and former Chief Justice Ibrahim Lidle Saleban,
in what is being anticipated as one of the closest races of the day.
Three candidates will contest the third seat, namely Prof. Mohamed Mohamud Allabari, Prof. Abdi Ismail Samatar, Abdirahman Osman Ali.
The fourth seat is sought after by FGS Information Minister Osman Abokor Dubbe and Abdikarim Mohamed Hassan.
Layla Ahmed Ismail and Mohamed Mohamud Abdi will run for the fifth seat.
Finally, Bilal Idris Abdillahi and Zeinab Ahmed Boqore will be running for the sixth seat.
Somaliland is the last region to organize Upper House elections. The delay largely owed to the Deputy PM and the Senate Speaker's public disagreements about the makeup of electoral committees.
The vote will happen under beefed-up security at the Afisioni Tent in Mogadishu's international airport. Somali National Army (SNA) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have been deployed.
Somaliland is the last region to organize Upper House elections. The delay largely owed to the Deputy PM and the Senate Speaker's public disagreements about the makeup of electoral committees.