GAROWE, Somalia – The top traditional leaders of the Puntland who met in Garowe city issued a statement calling on outgoing leader Deni to hold the election on January 8, 2024.
The elders said that the Puntland parliament should be elected in the same way as it was previously elected in the clan-based electoral system, pointing out that the popular vote cannot be held in the two months left for President Said Abdullahi Deni.
The statement released on Wednesday called on the President to quickly release a letter calling for timely polls and to appoint a dispute resolution committee ahead of the vote.
The elders’ statement came days after the Puntland Electoral Committee [PEC] announced the postponement of the election by one month, and it will be held in February next year instead of the 8th of January.
The latest reports indicated that President Deni is not satisfied with the statement issued by the elders. He insisted on his decision to hold a one-person, one-vote election in 2024.
Puntland opposition said they will make a parallel electoral process if Deni fails to heed the calls for a timely, peaceful, and transparent vote at the end of his five-year Tenure.
Since being established in 1998, Puntland has been exercising a clan-based 66-MP election for the president. But, now Deni wants to move out of the tribal system to a democracy.
