Puntland elders’ decisions “not binding”

A meeting of clan elders of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, to resolve the controversy surrounding the extension of the mandate of the Puntland administration, is a non-issue for the administration, a senior Puntland official has told IRIN. The Puntland government welcomed the role of the elders in mediating and bringing people together, but whatever decision resulted from their deliberations “is not constitutionally binding on this government”, said Isma’il Warsame, chief of the Puntland president’s cabinet. The elders’ conference, which was convened on 18 July, but adjourned the next day to give Abdullahi Yusuf, the Puntland president, time to consult members of his administration, reconvened on Monday, a local journalist told IRIN. On 19 July the elders met Abdullahi Yusuf and asked him for an undertaking to abide by whatever decision they reached, Muhammad Deq, the editor of the Bosaso-based newspaper ‘Sahan’ said. The elders then adjourned for two days to await the president’s response. On 22 July, Abdullahi Yusuf reportedly told them that his administration had been given a legal extension by the Puntland House of Representative and he therefore did not see the need to revisit the issue. He declined to give any undertaking to the elders, Muhammad Deq said. Warsame told IRIN that as far as the administration was concerned, “the government has a three-year extension” and would continue with business as usual. The elders were now considering two options to resolve the controversy, local sources said. They were talking of bringing in outside legal experts “to determine whether the extension was given in accordance with the Puntland charter”, as claimed by the administration, Muhammad Deq said. The second option - vehemently opposed by the administration - would be to convene a general congress of all Puntland regions to elect a new administration, he said. “It is this option that is making the administration nervous,” sources said. This was the option favoured by the opposition, who were against the extension of the mandate, they added.