Somalia: Puntland MPs blame Puntland President for delaying legislative session

GAROWE, Puntland- State Parliament of Somalia’s Puntland region has postponed its 38th session scheduled to begin on Tuesday, at the Parliament Hall in Garowe due to Puntland President’s visit to Bossaso on yesterday, Garowe Online reports.

Puntland’s lawmakers have gathered today morning at the Parliament to convene the legislative session but to found out that the Parliament Hall being locked, which promoted some angered lawmakers to hold press conference and accuse Puntland President and Parliament leadership of deliberately delaying the legislative sessions.

During the press conference, lawmakers stated that the President is ought to officially open the Parliament sessions when he is in the region according to the state constitution, and noted that his trip to Bossaso was intended to hinder the Parliament session.

The lawmakers also stressed on the importance of commencing the legislative session to address the drought situation, tensions with neighboring region and the ongoing electoral process, and also said that Puntland President was schedule to address the Parliament on how his government has handled these matters.    

They denounced the move and said that President’s trip should not have hindered the Parliament sessions, however, Puntland government officials haven’t released statement in response to the matter.

The last legislative session of Puntland Parliament comes amid failure of Puntland government to tackle worsening drought situation that hit Puntland region and recurring clashes with Galmudug state in the past month.

 GAROWEONLINE