Monday February 28, 2022
Somali Government Spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu on Sunday won a seat in the House of the People (HOP) – The Lower House of Somalia’s bicameral parliament.
Moalimu, who survived a suicide bombing on January 16 this year, won the seat number HOP#068 following voting in Beledweyne town in Hirshabelle State, 335km north of Mogadishu.
Following the attempt on his life last month, Moalimu has been receiving treatment in Istanbul, Turkey, and only came back to Somalia this week to contest for the seat.
He sought votes from the 101 delegates representing his sub-clan, for one of the 25 seats allocated in Beledweyne town.
Moalimu has survived bombings and attacks on at least four occasions. The Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab jihadists immediately claimed the January assault on his life.
In Somalia’s complex indirect electoral model, 275 MPs are expected to be elected by March 15, according to the latest timeline agreed on by the National Consultative Council chaired by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.
Once the 272 are elected, the Lower House and the already elected 54 senators of the Upper House are expected to elect Somalia’s president in an joint session in a yet to be declared date.