Somalia presidential election on as 25 cleared to run. Front-runner former premier Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo addresses the constituent assembly

Front-runner former premier Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo  addresses the constituent assembly

Twenty-five candidates have met the conditions required to run for Somalia's landmark presidency, the country's Parliamentary Election Committee running the anticipated contest has announced. According to committee spokesman Osman Libah Ibrahim, 33 hopefuls had picked up the nomination forms by Thursday's deadline while 25 were deemed to have met the required threshold.Somali's parliament will elect a new President as a number of obstacles including security considerations prevented the holding of a universal vote.The candidates meeting the requirements include incumbent President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, outgoing prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali,Front-runner former premier Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo and current MPs Professors Ahmed Ismael Samatar and Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.

The candidates are expected to address the new Federal Parliament on September 7 and 8 and lay out their respective programmes should any of them be elected President.Sunday, September 9 will be a resting day for both the parliamentarians and candidates with the new 275-member parliament electing a President on Monday September 10.Ms Mariam Areef Kassim, the committee chairperson, said that all candidates would take part in the first round of the election."If no candidate attains two thirds of the vote, a second round for the top four contestants will take place," said Ms Areef. She said that according to Somalia’s provisional constitution, a third and final round would be held for the two top contenders if none of the second round competitors attained a two third majority