Somali parliamentarians urged to elect qualified president
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Members of the newly formed parliament in Somalia are being urged to elect a president who will form a good and credible government.
The appeal has come from the top United Nations envoy in Somalia, Augustine Mahiga in an open letter to the Somali parliamentarians.
He said the election of the president will completely end the transitional period and move Somalia towards a phase of political and socio-economic transformation.
Ambassador Mahiga told UN Radio that his appeal is timely.
Augustine Mahiga
"We have just about 48 hours to go before the election of the president on Monday morning and this was an opportunity to urge the parliamentarians and to appeal to their conscience to use the secret ballot and exercise it in the right direction in accordance with the benchmarks and qualifications of the most appropriate and suitable candidate to lead Somali in the next phase of four years." (Duration: 28")
Ambassador Mahiga said there have been numerous rumours and allegations of corruption and attempted bribery for people to vote for a particular candidate or to try to sway the election one way or another.
