Somalia parliamentarians select a former labor minister as speaker in secret ballot

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s parliament Tuesday elected former labor minister Mohamed Osman Jawari as the new speaker. The speaker’s selection by 228 legislators is a step toward the election of Somalia’s next president.

Jawari, who led in the first round of voting, was challenged by Ali Khalif Galaydh, who once had been Somalia’s prime minister during the U.N.-backed caretaker government whose mandate expired on Aug. 20. Galaydh, who was prime minister from 2000-2001, pulled out in the second round of voting, saying he favored Jawari for the post. Jawari was then declared the winner.The process to select the Horn of Africa’s next government has been criticized for corruption and threats of violence, international observers say, even as some praise it as a watershed moment in the Horn of Africa nation’s road to peace and stability.


A group of Somali elders has been tasked with selecting the full list of 275 parliamentarians, but the election of the speaker apparently went ahead without the complete number.It is not clear when a new president will be sworn in.Somalia has lacked a stable government since 1991, when the overthrow of the dictator Said Barre ushered in violence as rival clans jostled for power. Observers say the different interests of Somalia’s clans have to be carefully navigated by the technical committee and elders who are helping to select the country’s next leaders