Returning to the role that he had held during 2012 to 2017, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been elected as Somalia’s President. The appointment was through a final vote that was open only to Somalia’s MPs – a total of only 328 people. But the vote was cast only by 327 as one MP abstained from voting.
The election
Mohamud has thus defeated the current president who was in the office since 2017 – Mohamed Abudallahi Farmajo. Mohamud has received 214 votes in the voting, defeating Farmajo who could bag 110 votes. Three votes were nullified as those MPs had spoiled their ballots.
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The elections bring back Mohamud as the president of Somalia. He served as the country’s leader between 2012 to 2017, before he was defeated by Abudallahi Farmajo. Soon after the results were announced, Mohamud was sworn as President of Somalia amid cheering by his supporters who also fired guns in the air. Mr. Mohamud will now serve as Somalian president for next four years.
Democratic chaos in Somalia
The presidential elections in Somalia were conducted amid very tense situations. The hot competition had pushed elections to a third round. The elections, on a whole, were delayed for about 15 months due to security issues in the African country and infighting in the political arena of the country.
The circumstances well shed light on democratic instability in the country that is also struggling under security issues.
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Tasks ahead for President Mohamud
Mr. Mohamud will now have to deal with a big challenge – United Nations has said that ongoing drought in the country has put 3.5 million Somalis at a risk of severe famine.
The other challenges include fighting Somalia’s way out from hold of al-Shabab – the al-Qaeda linked Islamist terrorist group that is responsible for carrying out attacks across the country.
The voting was conducted on Sunday wherein the parliamentarians voted at a fortified hangar in the Somalian capital city of Mogadishu.