Early Monday morning, armed soldiers are said to have blocked the entrance to the voting hall in Beledweyne’s Lamagalay district, ahead of a hotly contested election.
The troops are reportedly protesting Hirshabelle leaders’ handling of parliamentary elections, specifically the HOP 059 seat, which will be held in the coming days.
The disagreement stems from whether the seat, which is currently held by Samira Hassan Abdulle, should be reserved for women only or open to both men and women.
Yusuf Dabageed, Vice President of Hirshabelle, is said to be supporting Samira Abdulle’s re-election campaign and pushing for a women-only ballot, which would almost guarantee Ms. Abdulle’s victory.
The soldiers who blocked the road are demanding that the race be open to both men and women, claiming that the seat was previously reserved for women and that doing so again would stifle their sub-voice. clan’s They are also concerned that the incumbent is married to Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman, the Speaker of Somalia’s Federal Parliament.
The soldiers have disrupted Hirshabelle’s State Election Implementation Team (SEIT) plans to go to the polls on Monday morning for the hotly contested HOP 058 election by blocking the entrance to the voting hall.
Delegates have begun to arrive for the election, which has been postponed several times without explanation in recent days. However, there have been reports of growing schisms among members of the local community.
So far, seven candidates have registered for the election, including some of Somali politics’ most powerful figures.
Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloshe, Yonis Mohamed Nur, Ali Abdullahi Osoble, Abdulkadir Hussein Olow, Mohamud Afdhub Makaran, Abdullahi Ahmed Hussein, and Ubah Ali Shegow are among those who have been arrested.