Somalia: Parliament Speaker plans committee for presidential elections

26 Mar 26, 2011 - 4:17:22 PM

Somali Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden said on Thursday that he will nominate a committee for presidential elections that would take a place in Somali capital on August this year.

Aden spoke to the Press in Mogadishu airport after returning from official visits in Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Ghana and Kenya with delegations from the government.

"Presidential elections would take a place in Mogadishu; it’s the lawmaker’s decision and we will not reverse it," said Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden.

He said that the parliament will nominate a committee for the elections soon, which will be responsible for preparing the presidential elections in Mogadishu, the war-torn capital of Somalia.

"Members from the International Community will attend the elections, and we want to move past this transition period, the international community is satisfied with that," said Sharif Hassan.

Sources told Garowe Online that Speaker Aden is a candidate for the presidency of Somali republic this year but he didn’t confirmed yet to the media.

Sharif Hassan requested from the International Community urgent aid to the people in the areas under their control.

He congratulated the progress made by Somali government soldiers and African Union troops (AMISOM) after they seized from Al-Shabaab strategic bases in the capital and towns in southern Somalia.

There is a wrangle between the president and parliament speaker for the last months over parliament’s term extension for three years, while the government’s transition period is scheduled to expire on August this year.

GAROWEONLINE