After a long-delayed and turbulent election process marked by a power tussle between the president and his prime minister, Somalia‘s newly elected MPs have been sworn in.
In a ceremony held inside the heavily secured airport zone in Mogadishu’s capital, about 300 MPs took the oath of office.
“We have faced challenges and endured attempts to stop us from reaching this day but I am very happy that I am witnessing this occasion today,” Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said at the ceremony.
On Twitter, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo hailed the event as historic.
The 304 new members of the 275-member House of the People (Lower House of Parliament) and the 54-member Upper House, or the Senate, took the oath of office in a ceremony in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Chairperson of the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT), Muse Gelle Yusuf said elections of another 25 members are yet to be held in two Federal member states.
“We have been in the long electoral process that lasted for about 20 months, it is historic and great that it came to an end today, 304 members attended the swearing-in ceremony but there are only 25 members from Jubaland and Hirshabelle states that remain unelected so far, and we wish to complete soon,” Yusuf told Parliament
Despite escalating terror assaults by al-Shabab targeting electoral delegates, low funding, and severe drought, he said polls were held peacefully.
Ali Mohamed Yusuf, the Upper House’s temporary speaker, and Abdisalan Haji Ahmed, the House of the People’s speaker, were elected by the new parliament.
Mohamed Roble, the Somali Prime Minister, who was present at the event, congratulated the new legislators on taking the oath of office and praised the election players for ensuring the process’ completion.