MOGADISHU, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Somalia on Monday started the long-awaited elections for Lower House of Parliament with the election of two members from Somaliland in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
The two seats were contested by four candidates, including the country's deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled.
"I am pleased that the House of the People elections have gotten off to a positive start today. I urge the other federal member states to begin holding Parliamentary elections as soon as possible, and I hope that the electoral process will be a success," the Federal Electoral Implementation Team chairperson Mohamed Hassan Irro said.
The delegates will be selected through collaboration with civil society, traditional elders, and State governments. The elections will also take place in only two locations within every state, down from the previous four.
The Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble congratulated the two elected MPs from Somaliland to the incoming House of the People of the Federal Parliament and urged other regional States to speed up the elections.
"I am happy with the official kickoff for the election of the House of the People today. I am requesting the regional states to start elections of the House of the People quickly, hoping election processes will end successfully," Roble said.
The 54-member Senate and the 275 members of parliament from the Lower House are expected to jointly elect a new president later this year or early 2022.
This year's election, which will be the third since Somalia got its first internationally recognized government after the civil war, will also involve the biggest number of electors since 2012. Enditem
