Three more candidates have been elected to the House of the People in the past two days from the states of HirShabelle, South West and Galmudug as the electoral process enters its final stage.

Two of the three newly elected members of parliament are women as state-level electoral officials redoubled their efforts to meet the 30 percent quota for women’s representation in the country’s next federal parliament.

In the HirShabelle capital of Jowhar, Fatuma Farah Ibrahim became the tenth woman to win a seat in the House of the People from that state.

A newcomer to Somali politics, Ms. Ibrahim praised the electoral college delegates and observers of the electoral process for their impartiality.

“I thank all those who voted for me and those who did not. I thank the observers and all those who organized this great process. I will do the work assigned to me properly. I will put in a lot of effort to bring about development,” said Ms. Ibrahim, one of 32 members of parliament (MPs) thus far elected to the parliament’s lower chamber from HirShabelle.

The Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) member, Amina Abdullahi Derow, congratulated HirShabelle officials for the strong showing of women candidates in parliamentary voting thus far.

“We had to work really hard for them, (and) we now have 10 women,” observed Ms. Derow.

In Baidoa, Deeqa Hussein Hassan won an all-female election to become the fourteenth woman elected to the House of the People from South West state. 

“I am happy the delegates have entrusted me with this responsibility. I promise to do many things for my people. I will be a voice for the underprivileged. All the people of Somalia are my brothers. I will strive to do what I can for everyone,” Ms. Hassan said.

Businessman Abdisabir Nur Shuriye pulled off an upset in the Galmudug capital of Cadaado, defeating the incumbent federal MP and former cabinet minister Abdiqadir Ali Omar in Mr. Shuriye’s first bid for elected office.

“I thank the election teams for a well-organized electoral process,” he said. “I also thank the delegates for expressing confidence in me. I promise to live up to your expectations.”

Electoral college delegate Abdiqadir Nur Mohamed described the exercise as free and fair and urged residents to support the process.

“I am happy with the manner in which the process was held. I think we got the right person for this seat. I hope he will be able to deliver services,” Mr Mohamed stated.

The election of Abdisabir brings the number of members of the Lower House elected from Galmudug state to 30, with only six seats remaining to be filled.