Somalia to have a new president October 10

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Somalia will have a new president on October 10 ending the term of outgoing president Mohamed Farmaajo who has had an extended eight-month stay in office.

Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and Federal Member State presidents meeting in Mogadishu released an elections schedule Tuesday setting out dates that culminate into the elections of a new president in October.

According to the schedule, the 275 MPs of the Lower House will be elected between August 10 and September 10 while the 54 Senators will be elected on July 25. The 27,775 delegates who will elect MPs will be selected by clan elders and civil society groups for close to a month from July 15 to August 10.

The new Federal Parliament will be sworn in on September 20 and will subsequently elect respective speakers the same day.

The release of the timetable now sets the stage for preparations by the interim federal and state elections committees. The two committees alongside the dispute resolution teams will undergo training from June 26 to July 5.

Meanwhile, PM Roble has appointed a four-member regional ministerial team to lead the reconciliation process in the Gedo region. The four ministers drawn from HirShabelle, Galmudug, South West and Galmudug will also nominate a district commissioner and deputy for Gerbaharey district, both of whose names will be forwarded to Jubbaland president Ahmed Madobe for appointment.

This is according to the May 27 Agreement which also sought to address disputes in the Gedo region.