Somali Lawmakers  Elect New President Tomorrow after Year of Political Vacuum

On Sunday, Somali parliament members will elect a new president in a poll that has been postponed for more than a year in this unstable country in the Horn of Africa.

The upcoming vote may end a political crisis that has been going on for more than a year.

Among the most prominent candidates, the outgoing head of state, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, was born in 1962.

Farmajo was the ninth president of Somalia. He worked in his youth as an employee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also held the position of first secretary at the Somali embassy in Washington.

Between 1994 and 2010, Farmajo held several positions in the municipality of Buffalo, New York. During that period, he obtained a master’s degree in political science from the State University of New York.

He was appointed prime minister in November 2010, won the presidency in 2017, and his term expired in February 2021. He is the most likely candidate, and among the most prominent candidates is former President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud.