Somali lawmakers vote for country to hold indirect elections

Speaker says 140 MPs backed return to September agreement allowing for indirect presidential and parliamentary polls.

Somalia’s lower house of parliament has voted unanimously to restore an agreement reached last year that will allow the country to hold indirect elections. Last month, the parliament had voted to extend President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s term by two years and for the country to hold its future polls under a one-man, one vote system. The move, however, was rejected by the senate, prime minister, opposition leaders and four of the country’s six federal member states, leading to standoff in the capital, Mogadishu.