Somalia’s Puntland state has announced its 11 senators to join the 11th Parliament of Somalia ahead of presidential elections.
Voting took place in the state’s capital Garowe town, 1,000km northeast of Mogadishu.
Mr Abdirahman Faroole won first after defeating Mohamed Osman Olad, 54 to 11 votes in an early race on Wednesday morning. Mr. Faroole who once served as president of Puntland was a member of 10th parliament.
In the second seat, Mohamed Ali Yusuf [Gaagaab] had an easy victory after his challenger Kawsar Abdullahi Hirsi dropped out of the race. He garnered 65 votes.
Three of the eleven seats were explicitly allocated to women to achieve the 30% quota in parliamentary elections.
Other elected senators are:
Mohamed Abdi Osman (Majino) who currently serves as Puntland Minister for ports
Abdullahi Ali Hirsi [Tima-adde], Puntland information minister
Abdisamad Yusuf Mohamed, the governor of Bari region
Dahir Ayanle Said, a businessman
Farhan Ali Hussein, re-elected senator
Seynab Ismail Mohamed, Puntland’s deputy minister of environment
Abdiqani Gelle Mohamed, state minister for fisheries in Puntland state
Samira Mohamud Haji
Sareedo Mohamed
