Members of a new Somali parliament, which is sitting in Nairobi, vote on Sunday to elect a president.
| Hell of a lot safer than Mogadishu. |
It is the culmination of two years of talks in the Kenyan capital, aimed at ending more than a decade of lawlessness in Somalia. Optimism about the future for the country is tempered by the knowledge that there have been numerous recent failed attempts to restore stability. The parliament is made up almost entirely of thugs cronies brutes clan leaders and warlords. There are perhaps three or four favourites among the list of 28 presidential candidates. At one point there were more than 70 prospective leaders but that number was cut dramatically when candidates had to put up a non-returnable $2,000 bond.
| We could have done that in the Dem primaries this year and made a bundle. Except I don't think Kucinich could have paid up. |
The 275 MPs, which were nominated in August, say they are hoping to find a democratic future for their country. Somalis are hoping that a new administration under a new president and prime minister will set them on the road to peace and stability, but there have been more than 6,254 a dozen failed attempts to restore order in Somalia since 1991. |