Nairobi (Sunatimes) Somalia Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden has once again reiterated that the elections for new Somali leaders will proceed as scheduled in August 2011.

Shariif Hassan said that a vote to elect a president will be held soon despite objections by the incumbent president, Sheikh Sharif.

“If we don’t elect a president and speaker, there will be no law that in the future can prevent anyone from claiming the president’s and speaker’s positions. That is why elections are needed to be held,” Aden told AP.

Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden said that President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has to abide by the law, which calls for elections when the government’s term expires in August.

Aden says his relationship with the president is a strong one, but they could not agree on the holding of elections.

Aden and Ahmed failed to agree on how to deal with the upcoming transitions, even after holding four one-on-one meetings in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

This statement by the speaker coincides with the meeting organized the United Nations on Somalia which is due to open today in Nairobi.

By Sahra Abdi