Somalia's presidential election on Jan 26

Somalia's presidential election will be held January 26, officials announced in Baioda on Sunday.

Somalia's presidential election will be held January 26, officials announced in Baioda on Sunday.

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Sheik Adan Mohamed Nur, acting president of the restive African nation, confirmed the election date.

Mohamed Nur assumed the presidency for a 30-day period, as stipulated in the Transitional National Charter, after former president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned in December.

He said the decision was taken after consulting with parliamentary members here, the seat of the country's legislative assembly, 245 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu. Other details regarding the vote would be presented in the parliament Monday.

Last year, in a power-sharing pact between the Somali transitional government and Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), a major opposition group, agreed to double the current 275 parliament seats. The plan is to accommodate opposition members in the new parliament and form a national unity government.

Mohamed Nur has urged the ARS leaders to nominate members for Somalia's parliament before the election date.