     Gaaloos | Friday, April 13, 2001 - 04:43 am
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Title: Puntland Presidential Hopefuls Await Election Date
Summary: Apr 12, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- At least five people have expressed their intention to challenge Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, president of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, when elections are announced. Presidential aspirant Usman Yusuf Mahmud, 34, told IRIN that he had set up a campaign committee in Puntland, and that he was among at least five candidates hoping that elections would be held around June this year. He said his campaign had been active in Gardo and Bosaso, and that it had encountered "no real obstruction so far".
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Source: Africa News Service
Date: 04/12/2001 13:25
Price: Free
Document Size: Very Short (352 words)
Document ID: FC20010412400000139
Subject(s): ANS; E-Mail; Election; Government; Media; Politics; Somalia
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Story Filed: Thursday, April 12, 2001 1:25 PM EST
Apr 12, 2001 (UN Integrated Regional Information Network/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- At least five people have expressed their intention to challenge Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, president of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, when elections are announced. Presidential aspirant Usman Yusuf Mahmud, 34, told IRIN that he had set up a campaign committee in Puntland, and that he was among at least five candidates hoping that elections would be held around June this year. He said his campaign had been active in Gardo and Bosaso, and that it had encountered "no real obstruction so far".
A US citizen, Usman Mahmud charged that the present administration was corrupt, and there had been "constant violations", with the banning of political parties, demonstrations and public gatherings. He said he regarded Puntland's autonomous status as transitional until a national government had been properly established. "The interim government in Mogadishu needs to come up with a real plan," he stressed. He said he would work with the Transitional National Government (TNG), but complained that the 18 regional districts it had identified as the basis of parliamentary allocation were "not acceptable". He also said he believed the TNG should have established itself first in Baidoa, southern Somalia, as Mogadishu was too volatile. "If they are looking at the bigger picture, they can do it better from Baidoa," he said.
Usman Mahmud dismissed criticism that, as a US citizen who had not been in Puntland for a decade, he was an "outsider". He said the diaspora had played an important role over the last 10 years since the collapse of the central government. "On a daily basis, I use my cell phone, the internet and e-mail to keep up and communicate with my people. Lots of Somali leaders have had to spend time outside the country."
Sources in Puntland told IRIN that Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf appeared reluctant to announce elections, and had canvassed elders to extend his term by a further year.
Copyright UN Integrated Regional Information Network. Distributed by All Africa Global Media(AllAfrica.com)
KEYWORD: Somalia
Copyright © 2001, Africa News Service, all rights reserved.
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