If Gaas does not hold free elections by Jan 2019, he will not be coming back. Holding elections is Puntland's only way of getting more recognition and attention from the IC. If Gaas fails at this, he is gone. Puntland will be 20 years old in 2018, we have to hold elections, to not do so is insane.
I already sense that Gaas is trying to avoid holding elections, unfortunately.
The only reason he wants entension is because he knows he isn't coming back. He won by a miracle one vote margin. As for the election, Camay already said it's impossible to hold elections. The only possibility to hold elections is to hold it in few cities and not in entire Puntland.