Hiiraan Online
Monday February 6, 2017
Mogadishu (HOL) - An election for the last remaining seat in the Lower House of Parliament was held today in Kismayo, despite protests by one of the primary candidates in the race. The previous election was dogged by controversy after accusations of vote-rigging failed to produce a winner.
Abdullahi Mohamed Aden Sha’ir emerged the victor in the controversial poll winning 40 of 43 votes. Mohamed Mukhtar, who was one of two frontrunners in the last election boycotted the vote saying "the rules of the game have changed."
Mr. Mukhtar spoke to HOL after the ballot and said he didn't attend because the poll flouted the election rules set out by the government.
“The 51 delegates who took part in the vote were not from the designated sub-clan eligible to vote". Mr. Mukhtar went on to say that "the other sub-clans who were part of the delegates which corrupted the result of the ballot.”
Omar Dhagey, the head of the Parliamentary Electoral Commission told HOL that there were domestic and international election observers present at the vote and a formal announcement of the winner will be made after he convenes with them in Mogadishu to review their findings.
As the Presidential election just two days away, the parliamentary and presidential election commissions are scrambling to fill both houses of parliament. There are two seats in the upper house that have yet to be filled.