Somalia’s parliament voted yesterday for a new president in what the UN has described as a historic election for the war-torn nation, which has lacked an effective central government for decades.
The election is the final stage of a UN-backed process to set up a new administration for the country, whose 25 presidential hopefuls include the outgoing prime minister and president. The election has been delayed several times — having already missed an Aug. 20 deadline — but international pressure has increased on parliament to chose a president swiftly.
UN special representative for Somalia Augustine Mahiga last week described it as a “historic” election, praising efforts to “move forward to a new more legitimate and representative [system].”
Analysts have taken a gloomier outlook on the process, suggesting it offers little but a reshuffling of key figures and positions.
Somalia has lacked an effective central government since former president Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, unleashing cycles of bloody conflict that have defied countless peace initiatives.
Ruthless warlords and militia groups including al-Shabaab insurgents have controlled mini-fiefdoms that African Union troops and other forces have only recently started to capture.
Outgoing President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in power since 2009, is one of the favorites, although he cuts a controversial figure with Western observers.
A UN report in July said that under his presidency, “systematic embezzlement, pure and simple misappropriation of funds and theft of public money have become government systems” — claims Sharif has rejected.
“We have achieved some goals toward improved security with port, airport, bank and other national institutions operating normally,” Sharif said in a speech to parliament on Saturday.
“If you give me the opportunity for the second time to continue my work, the country will achieve more to overcome the current painful situations,” he added.
Outgoing Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, an economist, is another key candidate.
“We realized more on peace building, constitutional affairs and good governance in my 14 months of service,” he also told parliament on Saturday.
The new parliament, whose members were selected last month by a group of traditional elders, are to vote in a secret ballot in up to three rounds. Each candidate had to pay US$10,000 to enter the race.
Bitter arguments have begun between rival challengers, divided along Somalia’s notoriously fractious clan lines, and the UN Security Council has issued repeated warnings of “intimidation and corruption.”
The council has warned of its “willingness to take action against individuals whose acts threaten the peace, stability or security of Somalia.”
However, Britain’s ambassador to Somalia Matt Baugh said last week both the outgoing president and prime minister had assured him of “their commitment to respect [the] election outcome.”
A candidate needs to take two-thirds of the vote to win outright, otherwise the top four candidates go into a second round, with a third round of the final two. The winner is selected by a simple majority.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was