Somalia: Former PM to Run for
President in 2009
Somalia's former Prime Minister, Prof.
Ali Mohamed Gedi, has formally announced his candidacy for
presidential elections, which are scheduled to be held
across the country in 2009.
Prof. Gedi, who resigned last October
but retained his post as parliamentarian, said he is
confident the Somali people will elect him to lead the
country.
Prof. Ali Mohamed Gedi, former Prime
Minister of Somalia
"I am a man who believes in progress,"
Gedi told reporters from his base in Nairobi, Kenya. "2009
is very near and the transitional federal government (TFG)
has a lot of work to do. If the constitution is not
implemented, we [Somalia] will not reach democracy."
He stated that he is the first
individual to announce his candidacy for the 2009 Somali
presidential elections.
The former Somali prime minister urged
the TFG to prepare the nation for democratic elections next
year. He specifically highlighted the importance of a
population census and the finalization of the federal
constitution, which he argued would place Somalia on the
correct path towards democracy.
Many people in Somalia and abroad
believe that former Prime Minister Gedi lost his post due to
alleged financial mismanagement and his failure to implement
a federal system in Somalia.
Gedi's government could not collect
census data during his three-year tenure as Somali premier
and many suspect it is doubtful that the TFG will be able to
collect such data during the remaining year in its mandate.
It is not clear how the Somali
government will be able to host democratic elections
nation-wide next year, especially in light of a violent
insurgency in the capital Mogadishu, armed separatists in
the northern region of Somaliland and a weak government
dependent on foreign financial and military aid.
