Veteran politician Abdi Hashi Abdullahi elected first Senate Speaker
Long serving lawmaker and former minister of health and culture Abdi Hashi Abdullahi was Sunday elected the first Speaker of Somalia’s inaugural Senate in a contest that pitied him against Mustafa Mohamed Godah.
Abdullahi who also served as lawmaker between 1979 and 1990 during the military reign of Mohamed Siad Barre easily sailed to victory thrashing his opponent in a first round vote to a 43-9 crashing to become the first Speaker in Somalia’s first Senate which sits in the capital Mogadishu.
Abdullahi and Godah both from Somaliland in line with the clan power sharing arrangements in the country’s political order were elected by 52 Senators among them Presidential candidate Abdirahman Faroole who took oath of office minutes before voting kicked off.
Abdullahi was born in 1946 and went to acquire a degree in Economics from Somali National University between 1985 and 1990. Prior to this, he had served as MP from 1979 during Siad Barre’s regime, a position he held until 1990 a year before Barre’s administration and subsequently the state collapsed.
Between the years 2005 and 2007, Abdullahi worked as minister of Arts and Culture during the Transitional Federal Government period which ended in 2012. He later moved to Health Ministry for a year until 2008.
With the end of the TFG in 2012, Abdullahi made to the 9th parliament where he served as chair of the parliamentary committee on information a position he held until 2016.
Abdullahi will now work on a joint parliamentary timeline on the election of the country’s next president which has been postponed severally.
Two Senators are yet to be elected from Somaliland to close the constitutionally mandated number of 54 making up a full house.
The new senate leader together with first deputy Abshir Mohamed Ahmed and second deputy Moulid Hussein Guhaad who were both elected today will join hands in steering the Senate leadership and legislative agenda.