Puntland elders turn down new term for president

Senior traditional elders in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, who were debating the controversy surrounding the extension of the mandate of President Abdullahi Yusuf and his administration, have come out in support of new elections and named an acting president, local sources told IRIN. The elders, who have been meeting in Garowe, the regional capital, since 18 July, decided on Wednesday to confirm the Puntland chief justice, Yusuf Haji Nur, as “acting president of Puntland until 31 August”, when he is to call a general congress of representatives of all Puntland regions to a elect a new administration, the sources said. The chief justice told IRIN on 1 July that he was “the legitimate authority in Puntland” with effect from that day, after issuing a decree on 26 June putting all security services and other government agencies under the high court’s jurisdiction. The chief justice said at the time that his actions were in line with the Puntland Charter. The elders called on all heads of governmental agencies and institutions to work with the new administration, the sources said. Yusuf Haji Nur told IRIN on Thursday that he had already started sending instructions to regional officials to uphold the elders’ decision. “We are receiving calls of support from all regions of Puntland,” he said. The commanders of the security forces are “telling us that they will respect the elders’ decision” and work with the new administration, he added. The mandate of the Abdullahi Yusuf administration, which was to have expired on 30 June, was mandated by clan elders for a three-year extension, which was in turn approved by the Puntland House of Representatives on 27 June, according to the administration. The extension was, however, challenged by opposition figures and aspiring presidential candidates, who accused the administration of manipulating the vote. Meanwhile, the administration has accused the elders of encroaching on areas outside their normal mandate, saying that their decisions were not constitutionally binding on the administration. Isma’il Warsame, the chief of cabinet of the Puntland president, told IRIN on Thursday, that the administration “will ignore the elders’ call” and continue with business as usual. “We have already stated that whatever decisions they reach will change nothing,” he said. Warsame insisted that “Abdullahi Yusuf is still the president and all branches of government are reporting to him”. A Somali legal expert told IRIN that article 30.1 of the Puntland Charter states that “any disputes within the community that cannot be resolved by any other means available shall be sent to the titled elders [Isimada] for advice”. Since there was no constitutional court in Puntland, “the elders are within their mandate to resolve what is essentially a constitutional matter” he added. This meant they could override any Puntland institution, “including the presidency and the House of Representatives”, since they themselves had created them and, in the eyes of the people, had the most legitimacy, explained the expert. A diplomatic source said the order established in Puntland was based on the charter, ratified on 15 May 1998, and should therefore be respected. According to this source, international aid agencies based in Nairobi with offices in Puntland are expected to engage in consultations on how to react to this new development. “We have to wait for the elders’ official statement before we can comment” on the situation, the source said. The elders’ decision had thrown Puntland into a state of confusion and uncertainty, a local journalist told IRIN. “No one knows what is going to happen now. We were hoping that the elders were going to resolve things, but it looks as if we are back to square one.” There was fear that the decision could lead “to a serious power struggle”, which would undermine Puntland’s stability, he said. Everything would depend on whom the commanders of the Puntland security forces chose to support. If they were “to split, with one group siding with Abdullahi Yusuf and another with the other side, then we have a serious problem”. So far, the security forces as a group had not issued any statement regarding this issue, “and we are all holding our breath”, said the journalist.