Record number of candidates cleared to run for Somali presidency

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somalia's Presidential Election Commission, which comprises members of both houses of parliament, on Tuesday evening concluded the registration of candidates for the May 15 polls.

Thirty-nine candidates have registered, including incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, two former presidents, a former prime minister, a former mayor of Mogadishu, several former ministers, a journalist, and Fowzia Yusuf Haji Adam, Somalia's only female presidential candidate, according to the commission.

The commission, which is tasked with organizing and holding the election, last week announced that the election will be held on Sunday, May 15.

For the next two days, the candidates will deliver speeches to showcase their policies.

Somalia has seen the world’s longest election process and severe political turmoil over the delayed elections.

Mohamed has been more than a year beyond his constitutional mandate, which expired on Feb. 8, 2021.

Under Somalia’s indirect electoral process, 275 representatives were elected to the lower chamber of parliament, the House of the People, by clan elders and members of the civil society, which was preceded by the election of 54 members of the Senate.

These lawmakers will now vote for a new president on Sunday.