Banaadir Region which encompasses the capital Mogadishu will be allotted 13 seats at the Upper House should a proposal adopted by the Lower House of Parliament today get the nod from the Upper House. In what could allow the country's most populated region to get representation in the country's parliament, majority of MPs present in the house today approved the proposal by 142 votes. Only four MPs dissented. The proposal which now heads to the Upper House will see the residents of Banaadir region vote for 13 MPs to represent them in the second Senate. The first Senate came into being during the 2016 elections.
           The clamour for Banaadir’s representation peaked early this month when President Mohamed Farmaajo urged the Federal Parliament to give the region seats in Senate just like other Federal Member States.

But the proposal was opposed by sections of Federal Member States. MPs from Jubbaland, Puntland and South West reportedly walked out of the chamber before the vote came up.

Based on the 2016 arrangement negotiated by then President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed and FMS leaders, Puntland and Somaliland were allocated 11 seats while the rest of the FMS got eight seats each.

             The proposal which is contained in the Elections Amendment Act is likely to face stiff resistance from the Upper House which has dismissed the proposals as different from those agreed by the Joint Committee of both Houses.

Elections for Senators are conducted by the FMS parliaments. It is not clear how the Banaadir one will be conducted since it does not have an elected parliament.