Mortar shells land near airport as Somalia to swear-in MPs after long wait

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Today, more than 205 newly elected senators and Lower House members shall trickle into Gen. Kaliye Police Academy within the vicinity of the airport, where they will be picked for much-anticipated swearing-in within Halane Base Camp.

Correspondences from Federal Electoral Implementation Committee [FEIT] on Wednesday indicated that the new legislators who will steer the agenda in the 11th parliament shall be led to the Afisiyoni tent ahead of the exercise where they will take the oath of allegiance.

This will bring to an end a protracted political tussle despite the fact that not all seats have been filled but there is no quorum for the legislators to proceed and elect a new president. Ordinarily, Somalia is supposed to have 54 senators and 275 Lower House members.

But today, 208 Lower House members will be sworn-in having been cleared by electoral agencies and other relevant bodies. The remaining seats mainly in Gedo and HirShabelle are yet to be filled due to protracted political tussle.

Muse Guelleh Yusuf the FEIT chairman and probably the man of the moment, on Monday traveled to Baidoa, the regional administrative capital of Southwest, where he helped to solve a dispute over four seats that were nullified by the commission.

Just as expected, the trip did yield fruits given that two of the seats were resolved and winners admitted to Thursday's swearing-in exercise. The HOP103, which Saredo Mohamed Abdalla won, will be subjected to a re-run given that one of the candidates did not meet the age limit.

Abdiaziz Lafta-Gareen, the state's leader, had called on lawmakers to boycott swearing-in, arguing that Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble was interfering with the electoral commission. It's not clear if he has changed his stand but sources indicate Southwest lawmakers are already in Mogadishu.

The fate of 16 seats in Jubabalands' Garbaharey constituency has yet to be decided on the eve of the swearing-in-ceremony. Regional President Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe accuses outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo of interfering with elections in Gedo.

President Farmajo's embattled former spy chief - and current national security advisor - Fahad Yasin has not received his FEIT certification for his seat, which has been nullified by the electoral commission for electoral irregularities and scheduled for a re-run. He has been excluded from Thursday's event.

On Monday, Fahad Yasin filed a petition with Somalia's nascent Supreme Court, which has not handled an election case in its recent history. The Farmajo-appointed Chief Justice previously said that the court could not hear cases that arise from this indirect election because the format was crafted out of a political agreement and not constitutionally.

After Thursday's swearing-in, Somalia will embark on the final process of the election, which includes elections of the speakers and president. The federal president will be elected by the lawmakers and Farmaajo is expected to face former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud among others.

GAROWE ONLINE