MOGADISHU - Somali lawmakers have set May 15th as the date they will select the country’s next president. The presidential election committee, which includes 17 members from both houses of parliament, met in Mogadishu on Thursday and agreed on the date for the election.
In a vote by a show of hands, the members of the committee chose lawmaker Abdiqani Ugas as the chairman of the Presidential Election Committee, and lawmaker Mohamed Kerow as its deputy chairman.
The committee decided to hold the election on May 15th, just two days prior to the deadline set by international donors to cut their funding unless a new Somali government is formed. In a brief statement, the deputy speaker of the upper house, Ali Shacban, said that this marks a step forward in completing one of the last duties of parliament -- to elect the president. Voice of America
