Federal parliament to hold joint meeting today

GOOBJOOG NEWS/MOGADISHU: Newly sworn in members of both houses of the Somali 11th parliament are expected to hold a joint meeting in Mogadishu on Monday to discuss the election of the leadership of both chambers.

The majority of the Members of Parliament are in support of today’s agenda, but reports say that a few lawmakers allied to Villa Somalia have attempted to cancel today’s meeting in a bid to delay the election of the house leadership in order to give Fahad Yasin, who is eyeing the House Speaker seat, time to get approved.

Today’s meeting will seek to approve amendments to the provisional procedure for the elections of the Speakers of both Houses and the President, and report on the activities of the Organizing Committee of the House of the People.

The Upper House is expected to elect its speakers on April 26 while the election of Lower House speakers is scheduled to take place on April 27.