Somali political leaders fail to reach deal on elections

 






Somalia’s divided political leaders have failed to agree on how to proceed with elections in emergency talks, a government minister has announced, just days before the end of the president’s current term

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed flew back to the capital from the central town of Dhusamareb, without a deal on the staffing of regional electoral commissions, Information Minister Osman Dubbe said late on Friday, with Somalia likely to miss a February 8 deadline to choose a new president.

“The government offered to negotiate and settle all the disputed issues, but some brothers have failed to understand, and refused to resolve the issues,” Dubbe told reporters in Mogadishu late on Friday.


“The government has shown flexibility to compromise, gentleness and readiness to negotiate, but some leaders tried to exploit that openness to seek more. That will not work.”


Mohamed, who is seeking a second term in office, is expected to announce another round of talks at a joint sitting of Parliament on Saturday.

He reached an agreement with the leaders of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous regions on September 17, paving the way for indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2020 and early 2021.


But the deal fell apart as disagreements over how to conduct the process exacerbated tensions between the president, better known by his nickname Farmajo, and some regional rivals.


Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, who has extensively covered Somali affairs, said the impasse left the country in “political limbo”.


“Somalia has entered a period of political uncertainty once again, and no one is brave enough to predict what happens next.”



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