A new 66-member parliament for the northern Somali breakaway state of Puntland was sworn in Thursday, a committee of elders said.The meeting of government elders was attended by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who became Puntland's president in 1998 and resigned as Somali president on December 29. "I am urging you to be united and respect each other, also think about your people," Yusuf, who stepped down as head of neighbouring Somalia's transitional administration on Monday, told the lawmakers.
Puntland's leading elder Islan Iise Mohamed told AFP that the newly-appointed parliament would elect the territory's president on January 8, with a three-year mandate. "The main priority in Puntland is for peace and people living together in harmony," he said.
Fifteen candidates are vying for the post, but the frontrunners are believed to be incumbent president Adde Musa Hirsi, and opposition contenders Abdurahman Farole and Ali Abdi Aware.
The coast of Puntland is a major hub for the ransom-seeking pirates that have turned the Gulf of Aden into the world's most dangerous waters, wreaking panic in the world's shipping industry.