GAROWE, Somalia June 29 (Garowe Online) - The regional parliament in Somalia's northeastern State of Puntland has passed the region's new constitution after five weeks of debate, Radio Garowe reports.

Abdirashid Mohamed Hersi, Puntland Parliament Speaker

The parliament session was held Sunday in Garowe, the capital of Puntland, chaired by Speaker Abdirashid Mohamed Hersi and attended by 55 MPs out of the 66-seat Parliament.

Speaker Hersi told Radio Garowe after the vote that 49 MPs passed the constitution, 3 MPs voted no and 3 MPs abstained from voting. The new constitution is composed of 141 articles and provides the framework for introducing a multi-party political system in Puntland for the first time since the state's inception in 1998.

Puntland MPs in Garowe

On June 15, Puntland lawmakers ratified most articles of the new constitution but a few articles were left open for debate. It took lawmakers 36 days of debate to ratify the constitution, according to parliament sources.

The review process of Puntland's new constitution was began under the previous administration, led by then-President Adde Muse.

When current President Abdirahman Farole won an election in January, he appointed the State Minister for the Democratization Process, Dr. Abdi Hassan Jim'ale, to finalize the constitutional review process.

Source: Garowe Online