Tuesday, January 27, 2009
advertisements
DJIBOUTI, Djibouti (AFP)--Somali lawmakers Tuesday extended by five days the time period needed to elect a new president after the post fell vacant with last month's resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. According to the country's transitional charter a new president should be elected within 30 days of the position falling vacant. Yusuf stepped down on Dec. 29 and the deadline to elect his replacement expires Wednesday.
"The majority of parliamentarians agreed on the additional five days, but if we can do it earlier we will," parliament speaker Aden Mohamed Nur told a parliamentary session in Djibouti.
Somali politicians are gathering in Djibouti, due to insecurity at home, to elect a new president. They have already expanded parliament to include moderate Islamist opposition members under a U.N.-mediated deal with the government reached last year.
The parliament comprises 550 seats up from 275 and the new lawmakers are expected to be sworn in Wednesday.
In Somalia, hardline Islamist Shebab militia said Monday they had taken control of Baidoa town, which hosts parliament, but the African Union commission chief Jean Ping said the move had little impact on the political process.
"The situation on the ground in Somalia has revealed itself as less serious than we expected," Ping told reporters Tuesday at the bloc's headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The Shebab fighters said they seized Baidoa after Ethiopian troops pulled out at the weekend.
"The occupation of Baidoa is not really a surprise for us and this case was envisaged by Ethiopia," Ping added.
Ethiopia's pullout had stirred fears of a security vacuum in the country still struggling with a leadership crisis.
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=hZAZzwOP9uNFDVPLYpnI%2FA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
Source: AFP, Jan 27, 2009