GAROWE, Somalia July 3 (Garowe Online) -
The regional government of Puntland, in northern Somalia, has adopted a newly unveiled constitution which has already stirred political controversy and contributed to worsening relations between the administration and the parliament, sources said.
Gen. Adde Muse, the president of Puntland, chaired a Cabinet meeting Wednesday evening in the regional capital Garowe.
A Cabinet source who spoke with Garowe Online on the condition of anonymity confirmed that President Muse and the Cabinet ministers adopted the new constitution and a new water policy law during the unannounced meeting, ahead of the Cabinet's weekly Thursday meeting.
Both the constitution and the administration's water policy law must be presented to the Puntland parliament for ratification.
But insiders say tensions are growing between the Muse government and lawmakers, who gained a jolt of support this week when influential clan elders called for a congress to "save Puntland." [
READ:
Clan elders call for conference to 'save Puntland']
On Wednesday, Puntland Information Minister Abdirahman Bangah responded to the elders' public appeal for a region-wide conference in an official press release.
The Puntland government "was not aware that a meeting of Issims [Traditional Elders] was taking place in Garowe," the government statement read.
"No decision from the Issims of Puntland has reached us [government]," the Information Ministry's press release stated, while warning that "it is beside the constitution to confuse the regions about a gathering of delegates who have not be requested for the by the [Puntland] government."
The statement called on all who "genuinely desire a change in administration" to seek public support by honoring the elections process and by "not instigating a destruction of Puntland during these critical times in Somalia."
Observers said the row between the Muse administration and Puntland lawmakers is part of a 'constitutional crisis' that has been brewing in the region in recent months.
Source: Garowe Online
