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Somalia: Under New Constitution, One Year Left in Office for Puntland Govt, Says Lawmaker
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
A new constitution for the Somali regional government of Puntland will give the incumbent government of President Adde Muse an additional year in office, a Member of Parliament told Radio Garowe during a Wednesday interview.
MP Ahmed Barre said the Puntland parliament has "halted debate" on the new constitution, which the Muse government introduced for parliamentary ratification earlier this month.
"The Speaker [Ahmed Ali Hashi] asked lawmakers [yesterday] to approve or reject the new Auditor-General," MP Barre said, adding that most lawmakers voted to address government nominations than continue debate on the new constitution.
Since parliamentary bylaws forbid debate on two issues at the same time, "it will be difficult" for debate on the constitution to resume again, the MP suggested.
Parliamentarians grilled the recently-appointed Auditor-General about cases of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, MP Barre said.
According to the MP, the Auditor-General responded by saying that he sent five corruption cases to the Attorney-General for prosecution, but that President Muse told both the Auditor-General and the Attorney-General that the cases "have been eliminated."
"The Parliament is very opposed to ratifying the Constitution...this Constitution is being supported by the Administration whose term is expiring, and there are genuine suspicions that the Administration wants a term-extension," the lawmaker told Radio Garowe.
He cited Article 77 in the new constitution, which states: "The term in office for the [Puntland] President and Vice President is five years and can be elected only two consecutive times."
MP Barre said that President Muse gets to name five of the nine-member Puntland Election Commission - as called for by the new constitution - which will have the authority to "propose a term extension" after parliament approves the members.
Puntland is supposed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, with the latter scheduled for January 2009 after President Muse completes his constitutional four-year term in office.
Radio Garowe asked MP Barre about recent allegations that officials working for a local NGO named Puntland Development and Research Center (PDRC) - which is funded by Interpeace - are "interfering" with parliament affairs.
"Interpeace designed a seminar for us [lawmakers], that would have damaged Parliament's independence, but most lawmakers refused to attend," MP Barre said.
Insiders say PDRC received a grant from Interpeace to write up the proposed constitution for Puntland, underscoring the reason PDRC and local officials working for Interpeace are now accused of meddling in the region's volatile political affairs.
The Interpeace Web site describes the Switzerland-based organization as "helping war-torn societies to build lasting peace."
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An inquiry from Garowe Online addressing these serious allegations has not received a response from Interpeace headquarters.
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