Puntland President Unveils the Second Stage of the Democratisation Process

[Deeq A.]

President Deni: “Under my watch Puntland State will not accept to be cowed or to degenerate into a dysfunctional entity.”

Garowe (PP News Desk) — The President of Puntland State of Somalia Said Abdullahi Deni today unveiled the second stage of the democratisation process. In a policy speech for Eyl, Ufayn and Qardho district councillors who were elected in the first one person, one vote elections held in Puntland in 2021, President Deni laid out the path to implementing the democratisation process under decentralisation and accountability.

“Three political parties will come into existence. They share common national values of Puntland State but will compete under different political platforms to provide citizens with policy choices. No political party is better than any other. Each political party is suitable to circumstances obtaining in a given period” said President Deni in Garowe.

Puntland State President aims to transform the political system of the first, pre-federal autonomous administration in Somalia by committing political stakeholders to agree to a decentralisation agenda whereby districts will manage their budgets following the restructuring the public finances audit regime.

Fundamental to the democratisation process in Puntland is the move from the selection of MPs by elders to the election of MPs by citizens at district levels, a progress that will constitute to be an unprecedented political transformation in the state-building initiative in Somalia.

Sources close to Puntland Presidency have told Puntland Post that President Deni “will not claim to have pioneered the democratisation process. He will portray it as a political agreement to usher Puntland in a new social contract based on separation of powers, accountability and transparency”.

President Deni warned against any undemocratic stratagems that could be a means to a power grab. “Under my watch Puntland State will not accept to be cowed or to degenerate into a dysfunctional entity” he added.

© Puntland Post, 2022

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