Wednesday April 27, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - Lawmakers are arriving at the Afisiyooni tent in Mogadishu on Wednesday morning, where the election of Lower House leadership is expected to take place.
MP Mohamed Abukar Jafar and MP Nuradiin appeared to be the first MPs to arrive at the election venue. The two posted to social media calling on their fellow lawmakers to make their way to the secured site.
"I am in the tent; I say to the MPs, hurry up. Today is the final step. Candidates were expected to come earlier but have not yet arrived," he said.
He added that no parliamentarian could be barred from entering the polling station.
Prime Minister has chaired a meeting on the country’s security, especially the election security, held at the police station inside Mogadishu’s Adan Adde International airport. The meeting was attended by several presidential candidates, including the former presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, Sheikh Sharif, Said Abdullahi Dani, and Abdikarim Hussein Guled.
There is uncertainty over where the election could take place today because the Prime Minister authorized the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to take over the security of the Afisiyoni Tent.
Roble said that the list of accredited MPs will be submitted to ATMIS by Abdisalam Dhabanad, the interim speaker of the parliament.
Somalia's President Mohamed Farmajo, who is among the candidates seeking re-election in Somalia's long-delayed national poll, immediately rebuffed the Prime Minister's directives and ordered ATMIS to defer to the Somali Police Force, which is responsible for securing the election venue.