File Photo/Somali Times
The Minister of Finance Abdirahman Duale Bayle has today lost his seat in the HOP201, and was elected a new member of parliament, following an election in Mogadishu. Dr. Abdullahi Hashi Abib won the seat, according to the seat Electoral Commission in Somaliland.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Bayle announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the seat, citing a relationship between the seat and the finances of which he is now in charge, according to the statement. It is unclear how the seat and financial management will now be affected, as he has been an MP and finance minister for the past four years.
”Somehow I saw my seat is going and my career is shattered. I am satisfied with the finances and its issues,” said Abdirahman Bayle. The Minister of Finance further stated that, ”During my tenure I have invested a lot of time in the development of the country’s economy,” said Bayle.
“If I talk about the budget and the economy of the country I am here to manage it in accordance with the law and the world knows,” he added. Abdirahman Bayle’s HOP201 seat has been one of the most contested seats in recent days, but Dr Abdullahi Hashi Abib, the director of Raas Institute and now affiliated with Villa Somalia, has been elected. He is also a pro-Mahdi Guled politician.
According to Somali officials Somalia Minister of Finance Abdirahman Duale Bayle and former prime minister Hassan Khaire stole millions of dollars. Sources add they are in the richest list in Somalia.