GAROWE (SD) – Puntland Electoral Commission Chairman Guled Salah Barre recently announced his resignation, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

Guled said he had submitted his resignation letter to members of the Puntland Transitional Electoral Commission and the Speaker of Parliament, adding he had planned to remain on the Electoral Commission, but had decided to resign.

“This morning, I submitted a letter of resignation to the members of the Puntland Transitional Electoral Commission. Also this morning I shared with the Speaker a letter of resignation from the Committee I had been working on for two and a half years.” Said the former chairman.

He said the reason for his resignation was due to unforeseen circumstances, and that he had decided to resign from his post as chairman for two and a half years.

“I had planned to be a part of the hard work of the Senior Members and Staff of the Committee for the Puntland community, but due to circumstances, I decided to vacate the position.” Added the former chairman.

Puntland Electoral Commission Deputy Chairman Jama Hirsi Farah also resigned, just hours after the commission’s chairman resigned.

The Deputy Chairman Jama Hirsi Farah cited personal reasons for his resignation.

On the other hand, Puntland Electoral Commission elects interim chairman and deputy chairman, following the resignation of Chairman Guled Salah and his deputy Jama Hirsi.

This comes at a time when more than two months have passed since the first three constituency elections took place in Puntland.