By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Somalia, 28 November 2025 – Somalia's ruling party, Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP), has concluded primaries to select candidates for the upcoming Banadir local council elections.
The digital voting process, which began on 25 November at 8:00am, concluded today at 8:00am, lasting 48 hours. It was conducted across all the 16 districts of Mogadishu.
At a press conference today in Mogadishu, the party’s interim electoral committee said, a total of 541 candidates contested the internal primaries. Out of the registered 181,923 party members, 90,992 participated in the vote.
However, the committee said the names of candidates who have secured nomination will be announced later, adding that vote-tallying was ongoing.
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“The official results of candidates who qualified to be included on the final list for the Banadir local council elections will be announced at a later time,” Abdiftah Soomaali, a member of the party's interim electoral committee said.
The party is required to submit a final list of 378 candidates to contest the elections whose new dates are yet to be announced after the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) extended the deadline for submission of candidates lists by political parties. The elections were initially scheduled for end of this month.
The President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud-led party is the first to officially announce that it has conducted internal primaries for the Banadir elections.
More than 60 political parties are currently registered in the country, according to NIEBC.
