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Somali parliamentarians elected Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari as the new speaker of parliament on Tuesday (August 28th) with 119 votes.

Five candidates were vying for the parliament's top post, including Ali Khalif Galeyr who received 77 votes, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi with 23 votes, Abdirashid Mohmaed Hidig with 10 votes and Hassan Abshir Farah with 5 votes.

Under the election rules, the winner had to achieve 51% of the vote or go to a second round with the top four candidates. However, after the first round, the other three eligible candidates stepped down.

"After a successful election that was conducted in a transparent way, I declare... Mohamed Osman Jawari to be the speaker of the Somali parliament," said interim-speaker Musse Hassan Abdullahi, according to AFP.

After the vote, Jawari requested that Abdullahi continue managing the process until the deputy speakers are selected. "I will address the public once the elections [in parliament] are concluded," he told reporters.

"I thank all members of parliament who voted for me as well as candidates who participated," he said.

Jawari was the minister of labour during the Siad Barre administration. During the civil war, he moved to Norway and recently returned to Somalia. In September 2011, he was selected as chairman of the committee of experts charged with writing the Somali constitution.

At the beginning of the vote, 236 parliamentarians were present, and an additional 21 were sworn in after the first round of votes and will be able to participate in the selection of the two deputy speakers.

With the new members, the number of parliamentarians is 257 out of 275 total.