Hirshabelle Upper House election to be concluded today
2 min read
Reports from Jowhar District, the administrative capital of Hirshabelle State, say that the election of the upper house of the federal parliament of Somalia will take place as scheduled.
Three remaining seats in the Hirshabelle Upper House will be up for grabs today, following a dispute over the election of a seat scheduled for last night.
The speaker of the parliament Abdihakin Luqman Mohamed said that the election will be completed and the lawmakers who caused the chaos last night will be held accountable.
Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali Af’adey was elected Senator of the Upper House, defeating his rival Mohamed Amin Sheikh Osman by 52 votes to 44 in the first round.
The defeated candidate Mohamed Amin Sheikh Osman has been in the seat for the past four years.
The winning candidate, Senator Af’addey, a military officer, has twice served as Commander of the Somali Presidential Guard, and has also held other positions in the Somali Armed Forces.
As the night progressed on, the election for the other seat then began to begin, but within minutes after the first round of voting and the counting began, some of the HirShabelle MPs started to cheer and raise their voices in protest.
Up to four candidates were running for the seat at that time, including one women.
The lights in the polling station were then switched off, with the delegates and candidates eventually began disbanding the hall and leaving.
The election of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament in Hirshabelle was scheduled to be completed on Thursday, but due to various reasons, has been postponed.
Five seats were contested last night, including the seat won by Colonel Afcaddey.
