Somali lawmakers to choose country's new president on May 15

A Somali lawmaker casts a ballot during the elections for the speaker of the lower house of parliament, inside the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, on April 28, 2022. [Reuters]

Somali lawmakers are expected to pick the country's new president on May 15, a parliamentary committee said on Thursday, the final step in a tortuous election process that has suffered delays due to a rift within the outgoing administration.

The selection of a president is a key step in establishing a new government, which must be in place by May 17 if Somalia is to continue receiving budget support from the International Monetary Fund on which it relies to pay essential bills.