Somalis pressured to elect president this week

DJIBOUTI - The Somali presidential election may be held this week after pressure from the international community, Diplomats from African and western countries at the power-sharing talks in Djibouti has insisted that the Somali presidential election be held within the timeframe set in the Somali Transitional Federal Charter,The thirty-day deadline for the election of a president expires on Wednesday as former president Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed stepped down on Dec. 29. The Somali Transitional Federal Government and ICU \the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) agreed last October on the outline of enlarging Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament and forming Government of National Unity. On Monday, the Somali lawmakers approved the expansion of the parliament to include members of the opposition faction, the ARS, who will be sworn in on Tuesday.
ARS leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced on Sunday Sheik Shariif Sheik Ahmed Nominated by (ARS) ICU for Somalia’s Presidency he would contest the presidential election. Sharif and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein are seen as the two main presidential contenders. More than a dozen candidates are expected to vie to succeed former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who stepped down last month after falling out with the prime minister over a UN-backed peace deal.