* Presidential vote is first in Somalia in decades
* Bribery allegations threaten to mar vote
* Security, infrastructure to be key challenges (Releads with vote outcome)
By Yara Bayoumy
MOGADISHU, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Somalia's lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on
Monday for political newcomer Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to be the country's next
president, with the streets of the capital erupting into celebratory
gunfire.
The country's lawmakers were voting in the first poll of its kind in
decades. The vote was billed by the United Nations as a milestone in the
war-ravaged country's quest to end more than 20 years of violence, graft and
clan feuds.
Mohamud, seen as a moderate, unexpectedly defeated incumbent President
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed after two the four candidates who made it to the second
round of voting opted out.
One of them, outgoing Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali who threw his
weight behind Mohamud's candidacy, said the result heralded a new era for
Somali politics.
"Somalia voted for change," Ali told Reuters, adding it was too early to say
if he would take part in the new administration.
There has been no effective central government control over most of the
largely lawless country since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.
Monday's vote was seen as a culmination of a regionally brokered and
U.N.-backed roadmap to end that conflict, during which tens of thousands
were killed and many more fled.
The capital, which until last year witnessed street battles between al
Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants and African soldiers, is now a vibrant
city, where reconstructed houses are slowly replacing bullet-riddled
structures.
But despite being on the backfoot, the militants still control swathes of
southern and central Somalia, while pirates, regional administrations and
local militia group also vie for control chunks of the largely lawless Horn
of Africa country.
The outgoing president conceded defeat after the onlookers in the hall where
the vote was held spontaneously stood up and sang the national anthem.
Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle, director of the Centre of Research and Dialogue, a
local non governmental organisation where Mohamud worked for eight years,
said the result highlighted Ahmed's failure to quash the Islamist insurgency
and improve living standards.
"He is benefiting from the fallout over Ahmed. This vote shows that the
Somali people were yearning for change," Abdulle said.
"His emphasis will be on institution-building and reconciliation. His
biggest challenge will be the expectations of the people."
Touching a Koran with his right hand, Mohamud was sworn in as president
within minutes of his poll victory.
Somalia's president heads the executive while the speaker of parliament is
considered the country's most powerful politician and steps in if the
president is unable to fulfil his duties.
D-DAY FOR SOMALIA
"It's D-day for Somalia," lawmaker Abdirahim Abdi had said of the election
in which more than two dozen candidates ran. "It's a turning point for
Somalia and everyone's been waiting for it."
Members of parliament marked their ballot papers behind a curtain before
casting them in a clear box in front of foreign envoys and hundreds of
Somali men and women as well as being broadcast live on television.
"Any elected president must cope with security first, then the
reconstruction of social infrastructure, resettling the numerous (refugees)
around the country and the liberation of the rest of the country from al
Shabaab," said student Bashir Ali Abdikadir.
Mohamud will also have to tackle Somalia's reputation as the most corrupt
country in the world.
In July, a U.N. Somalia monitoring group report said it had found that out
of every $10 in revenue raised between 2009-2010 $7 had never made it into
state coffers.
Despite the possibility that the entire process of selecting a new
parliament whose members then elected the new president may have been flawed
after allegations from a diplomatic source that lawmakers were being offered
bribes, many Somalis were elated their country was holding an election of
sorts.
"It's something we have to witness and be a part of, even if we're not
voting. We've been through a very difficult labour and we're finally giving
birth," said Najmah Ahmed Abdi, who runs a Somali youth forum.
"The (lawmakers) have a momentous responsibility on their shoulders.
Tomorrow will be like when U.S. President Barack Obama was elected. We hope
we get our own Obama." (Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed; Editing by
Richard Lough)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Mon Sep 10 2012 - 16:19:08 EDT
