Somali President, PM trade accusations over delays to ongoing elections

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed addresses delegates at the Somali election negotiation in Mogadishu, Somalia May 27, 2021 REUTERS/Feisal Omar

MOGADISHU (Reuters) -Somalia's president and prime minister each accused the other on Sunday of holding up ongoing parliamentary elections, in a spat analysts say may distract the government from its fight against the al Qaeda-linked insurgency al Shabaab.

Parliamentary elections began on Nov. 1 and were supposed to be completed by Dec. 24, but one newly elected lawmaker said that as of Saturday only 24 of 275 representatives had been elected.