Nairobi (SD) – Former Prime Minister of Somalia and former President of the Puntland State of Somalia Abdiweli Mohamed Ali “Gaas” described as unfortunate the interference in Somali politics by some Arab countries.

Gaas said Somalia’s elections are influenced by some Gulf states, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He explained that they are spending a lot of money on candidates, so whomever they like politically would be elected.

“It is unfortunate that these countries are influencing the elections in Somalia,” Gaas told Somali Cable Television in an interview in Nairobi.

He spoke about the allegations of corruption in the past, during the country’s elections, and underlined that he had made a lot of anti-corruption efforts on the 51 delegates in the previous election, but they themselves were corrupted at the end. however, he expressed optimism that the 101 delegates, saying its harder to corrupt them.

It is alleged that the central government is now been supported by the government of Qatar, and there are also suspicions that the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are likly to be involved in the next election.

Gaas’s comments come at a time when the country’s federal and regional leaders reached an electoral formula agreement on the 2020/2021 elections.