Hiiraan Online
Thursday February 2, 2017
Mogadishu (HOL) - The first group of candidates vying for Somalia’s top job are in Parliament today delivering speeches, a last-minute effort to sway undecided voters ahead of the February 8 elections.
Somalia’s indirect elections will be decided by the 329 members of Somalia’s bi-cameral parliament. Although many analysts believe loose alliances have already been formed heading into the polls; if past elections are any indication of what’s to come, we can expect several promises to be broken as candidates forge new pacts in the eleventh hour through backroom deals.
The speeches are being aired on state-owned SNTV in the hopes of reaching millions of Somali’s around the globe. All 24 candidates will present their case to Parliament in groups of eight until the final speeches are read on February 5th.
Here are the candidates delivering their speeches today:
Zakariye Mohamud Haji Abdi
Bashir Rage Shirar
Jibril Ibrahim Abdulle
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Saed Abdullahi Dani
Dr. Saed Isse Mohamud
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed
You can watch the full speeches in their entirety here:
Despite violent attacks by Al-Qaeda-aligned militant, Somalia vows to hold the second election in Mogadishu since ousting Al-Shabaab from the capital in 2011.
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HOL's Faysal Hassan contributed to this report