By John Ikani
President of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has announced his candidacy for long-delayed presidential elections that will be held later this month.
Declaring his interest to contest in the presidential elections due on May 15, Mohamed popularly known as Farmajo said he was pursuing a second term in “response to the Somali people’s call” and to continue a “path of progress and development.”
“I’m announcing my re-election candidature,” the incumbent said in a televised speech. “I call for both houses of the parliament to vote for me.”
Thankfully, the presidential election will be held on the anniversary of the SYL, sending a powerful statement that the #Somali ppl are committed to restoring their statehood & national pride. I have decided to run for president again in response to the Somali people's call 1/2. pic.twitter.com/B02vFWkft0
— Mohamed Farmaajo (@M_Farmaajo) May 8, 2022
In Somalia, MPs are chosen by delegates appointed by clan elders and members of civil society selected by regional state officials.
The MPs then vote for a President, who leads the country.
Farmajo, who was elected as President in February 2017, will be running against dozens of candidates for the country’s top seat in elections that had originally been scheduled to take place in February 2021.
His first-term constitutional mandate ended in February last year but he stayed on amid a delay in the holding of parliamentary elections.
Other contenders for the nation’s top public office include two former presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and the leader of oil-rich region Puntland, Said Abdullahi Deni.
Aspirants seeking to be eligible for the race officially registered at the office of parliamentary organizing committee of the presidential elections in Mogadishu on Sunday.
