Somalia: duel between the last two heads of state during the presidential election

A parliamentarian voting during the Somali presidential election, at Mogadishu airport, May 15, 2022. © Feisal Omar/REUTERS

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2 mins

It is a long-awaited vote which takes place this Sunday, May 15 in Somalia to elect the next president.

After more than a year of delay, this election is supposed to put an end to a political crisis which has deeply divided the country.

This delay has also hampered the fight against the Islamist Shebabs.

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With our regional correspondent,

The shebas have intensified their attacks in recent months.

Mortar fire was even heard near Mogadishu airport.

It is in its ultra-secure enclosure that the ballot takes place under a tent with the protection of African Union troops.

The capital has also been placed under curfew since Saturday evening and until six o'clock Monday morning.

Incoming and outgoing flights have been suspended.

This does not prevent the indirect voting process from taking its course.

Called one by one, the 329 senators and deputies voted twice this Sunday.

After last-minute withdrawals, there were 35 candidates at the start.

None managed to collect the two-thirds of the votes needed to win in the first round.

So four candidates competed in a second round, the counting of which has just been concluded.

Once again, none of them managed to unite the votes to win directly.

Third round between two presidents

The two leading candidates, former president Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, and his successor and outgoing president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, will face each other in a new round.

Coming in third place, the president of the Puntland region, Said Abdullahi Dani, has already given his support to the former president.

Some therefore think that Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud would already be a winner.

Celebratory gunshots have just rang out in the capital Mogadishu.

At the end of this last round, the majority candidate will become the next president of Somalia.

The result is expected later in the evening.

►Also read: Election of a new president against a backdrop of political and security crises

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• Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo

• Somalia

• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud