C/laahi Dani and company had decided not to take part in the election. That is very clear now. The failed coup of Feb 19 exposed their plot. They are 100% sure they would lose the election.
Puntalnd leaders never learn anything from history. It was C/weli Gaas who in 2016 demanded one man one vote or else. He eventually accepted after Ethiopia became a guarantor. Rather than find common ground with his Somali brothers, he preferred a foreign nation to give him a false grantee that was illogical to implement.
I am afraid that C/laahi Dani could even go farther and refuse to participate the election which might force the country to assemble the Puntland delegates in Mogadishu without him.
THere are unconfirmed reports that the killer and blood thirsty Emirates who have in their hands the bloods of Libyans, Syrians and Yemenis might encourage Puntland to declare secession just like the Somaliland and intervene just like Libya. Even the separatists are praising Dani for taking one for the team.
We all hope that the people of Puntland will rise up in the ugly gulf and their mercenaries show up in their coastal towns.