As the deadline for registering the candidates for Somali presidency elapsed on Tuesday 10th, a total of 39 presidential hopefuls will be vying for Somalia’s top job on Sunday.
An additional seven contestants registered on Tuesday. The deadline for registering the campaigns was on Tuesday 10th at 4:00 local time.
Twenty-two of the presidential hopefuls – including President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo registered on Monday.
Each candidate paid a $40,000 registration fee, which raised 1,560,000 that the electoral commission collected.
Mohamed Ibrahim Maalimuu, a former government spokesperson and a member of the organizing committee, confirmed the record number of registrants and released the timetable for candidate speeches which are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Each candidate is allocated 20 minutes.
The first candidate to address parliamentarians will be Abdi Adam Hoosow on Wednesday at 10:00 am local time. Former PM Hassan Ali Khaire will be the last candidate to speak on Wednesday at 5:20 am.
The majority of the front-runners – including President Farmajo, former Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sheikh Sharif, and Puntland President Sacid Abdullahi Deni – will make their pleas to lawmakers on Thursday.
The presidential election will be held Sunday on May 15 at the Afisioni Tent in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
BY OSMAN HUSSEIN ALI- osmanhusseinke@gmail.com
