Somali Capital on Lockdown ahead of Presidential Vote

Local Editor

Somalia's capital Mogadishu was under security lockdown Tuesday, with roads and schools closed and residents urged to remain indoors a day before the country holds a long-delayed presidential election.

Fears are high that the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab group will seek to disrupt the election by carrying out an attack on the capital. Twin car bombs at a popular hotel left at least 28 dead two weeks ago.

Heavily armed security personnel patrolled the streets of the capital, while several main roads were blocked off with sand berms and residents of the capital were urged by Mayor Yusuf Hussein Jimale to stay indoors.

"My children did not go to school because of the election and my husband who works as a policeman had to stay on duty for the last three days. This thing is taking too long and people would be relieved if they could see an end to this drama," mother-of-four Samiya Abdulkadir said.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is seeking re-election against 21 other candidates, after another dropped out Tuesday.

The troubled Horn of Africa nation, which has not had an effective central government in three decades, had been promised a one-person, one-vote election in 2016.

However political infighting and insecurity, mainly due to al-Shabaab militants who control swathes of countryside and strike at will in Mogadishu, saw the plan ditched for a limited vote running six months behind schedule.

The delayed electoral process began in October, with 14,025 specially chosen delegates voting for candidates for both parliament and a new upper house. In 2012, only 135 clan leaders chose the MPs who voted for the president.

Repeated delays meant the new lawmakers were only sworn in in December.

In a report on Tuesday, Somalia-based anti-corruption watchdog Marqaati said the elections "were rife with corruption".

The tortuous process to elect a president whose remit does not extend beyond the capital and a few regional towns, has left some disillusioned.

While falling well short of the election that was promised, the process is more democratic than in the past and is seen as a step towards universal suffrage, now hoped for in 2020.

Wednesday's voting will see members of the 275-seat parliament and 54 senators cast ballots inside a hangar within the heavily-guarded airport.

Security sources said commercial flights would not be operating Wednesday.

No candidate is expected to get the two-thirds majority needed for a first-round win, with two further rounds permitted before a winner is declared.

In the absence of political parties, clan remains the organizing principle of Somali politics.

Source: News agencies, Edited by website team