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Somalia Presidential Election to Be Delayed, Committee Says

Somalia Presidential Election to Be Delayed, Committee Says

(Bloomberg) -- Somalia’s presidential election, scheduled for Nov. 30, will be held at an unspecified later date, the chairman of the war-torn country’s electoral committee said.

The date will be announced after the committee meets with lawmakers, Omar Abdulle Dhegey told reporters Monday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Delegates representing the Horn of Africa nation’s clans are currently choosing the members of parliament, who in turn will select the president from more than 10 candidates, including incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.

Dhegey said there’d been reports of vote-buying and intimidation during the election of lawmakers. This is the second postponement of the presidential vote, which was first set for the end of October.

Somalia, which is emerging from more than two decades of civil war, is trying to use recent improvements in security to attract investors and rebuild the economy. Its leader aren’t selected by popular vote because the electoral commission doesn’t have the capacity to conduct a nationwide poll, Mohamoud said in February.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu at msheikhnor@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Helen Nyambura-Mwaura