GAROWE, Somalia Nov 15 (Garowe Online) - The leading opposition candidate in upcoming presidential elections in Somalia's Puntland region received a massive welcome home Saturday in the region's capital, Garowe.

Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole," a PhD candidate in Australia, was welcomed by hundreds of people who gathered along the main road linking Qardho and Garowe in the sunlight and chanted cheerfully.

Farole speaks with press in Qardho/Horseed

Before traveling to Garowe, Farole spent the night in the Karkar provincial capital of Qardho, where he addressed a gathering of elders, intellectuals and community leaders including Qardho Mayor Osman Buhi Ali.

Hundreds of residents, including students clad in bright uniforms, cheered as Puntland's leading opposition figure addressed the public at Garowe Square.

Mr. Farole thanked the people of Bossaso, Qardho and Garowe for welcoming him back to Puntland after two-and-half years in exile.

Farole laughs with elders in Qardho/Horseed

Security

The Puntland regional administration was established to safeguard the personal, financial and property interests of the citizens of northeastern Somalia, Farole said.

"When Puntland was created, there was peace. Ten years later, the ships transporting food aid to local families are hijacked. This is the worst form of insecurity, when the free movement of commerce and transport is interrupted," he said.

The opposition leader indicated that Puntland faces many security challenges, saying: "In Bossaso today, which is the heart of our economy and resources, you see suicide bombers attack government offices. No one can say we will survive if this insecurity continues."

Farole attends gathering with elders in Qardho/Horseed

During his public speech, Mr. Farole repeatedly linked justice to security, and security to social and economic progress.

"If there is no justice, there is no peace. And if there is no peace, then there is no development," he said.

Justice

Mr. Farole said he fought against corruption during his term as Puntland's finance minister under the administration of then-Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf, today's interim President of Somalia.

Farole in the crowd in Garowe/GO

"I opposed so-called fadlan payments then and now," he proclaimed, while defining fadlan as "payment to someone who did not work for it."

He urged the people of Puntland to support a government founded on the principles of justice, so the region's meager resources can be used for the benefit of the masses.

"Our small resources, if used for public services and economic development, are enough for us all," he declared to the crowd's loud cheers.

Development

He indicated that the government's resources should be spent to finance social and economic development programs, instead of paying fadlan to undeserving people.

Farole greets supporters in Garowe/GO

"The poor families who cannot afford to pay for their children's education at private schools must have a school for their children to learn for free," Mr. Farole said.

He said the government must provide healthcare facilities for ill people who cannot pay high medical costs at private hospitals.

If elected, Mr. Farole pledged to make major strides towards job creation for the region's mostly-young population on the road to economic development.

"But development will not come in a single day. It needs to be nurtured under peace," he warned.

Garowe security forces/GO

Structural change

Mr. Farole, who is one of Puntland's founding fathers, told the crowd that structural change is needed to save Puntland.

"You [the people] need a system to be built. It is working systems that bring success. It is unacceptable that people get in line in front of the ruler's [president] house and request payments for clan so-and-so," he said strongly.

The opposition leader said the people of Puntland should pressure clan delegates in parliament – who elect the president in January – to elect the most worthy candidate for leadership.

"You [the people] do not have a direct voice today. Urge the clan-based lawmakers to elect the best candidate who can lead the region to successful development," he added.

Farole is among a host of candidates running to become the next president of Puntland, a strategic region with a coastline along of the Gulf of Aden and the Indean Ocean which is rumored to contain unproven oil reserves.

Gen. Adde Muse, the current Puntland leader,  won the presidency in 2005 after Farole supporters in parliament voted for Muse over then-President Mohamed Abdi Hashi.

In turn, Muse appointed Farole as Puntland's minister for planning and international cooperation, whose ministry authored the Five-Year Development Program.

The two men disagreed over Muse's unilateral deals with relatively unknown oil companies and Farole left the country in mid-2006 to pursue a PhD in Melbourne, Australia.

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Source: Garowe Online