Lawmakers have finally chose a new president. Current President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was hoping to stay in power after over a year of in-fighting and delays.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was chosen as Somalia’s new president in a long-overdue election in the troubled Horn of Africa nation
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is the first Somali president to win a second term
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was chosen as Somalia’s new president on Sunday.
Mohamud, defeated the incumbent, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed in a runoff after three rounds of voting in an election that has been delayed for over a year.
The members of parliament and senators who chose Mohamud were elected by delegates chosen by clan leaders. It had been hoped that the president would be elected by the people of Somalia under universal suffrage, but this plan was eventually abandoned by the country’s political elite.
News of Mohamud’s victory was greeted with cheering and the firing of gunshots into the air around the capital Mogadishu.
Mohamed and Mohamud sat side-by-side Sunday, watching calmly as the ballots were counted.
“Hassan Sheik Mohamud is the winner of the election for the president of the Somali Federal republic,” said the speaker of the lower house, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur
Mohamed conceded defeat, and Mohamud was immediately sworn in.