Somali President Farmajo invites regional chiefs to last-ditch talks to resolve electoral impasse
The news is likely to throw opposition groups’ plans to delegitimize the president into disarray.
Pres. Farmajo with Speaker Mursal and his two Deputies Mudey and Awad
By The Star Staff Writer
MOGADISHU – President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo” has announced Tuesday night a plan to convene talks between him and regional chiefs in a last-ditch attempt to break the deadlock over how and when to conduct the nation’s parliamentary and presidential elections, whose deadlines had already passed.
The members of the UN Security Council “noted” President Farmajo’s call for “further talks” and urged Somali leaders “to work together in the interest of the people of Somalia.”
The surprise pronouncement is likely to throw opposition groups’ schemes to delegitimize the president into disarray. Just a day earlier, the Council of Presidential Candidates said it wouldn’t recognize President Farmajo’s authority after the expiry of his term on Feb. 8 and called for the establishment of an interim administration.
The international community, most notably the US, the UK, France and Russia, as well as the EU, the UN and the African Union, swiftly rejected that notion and reaffirmed their recognition of President Farmajo’s legitimacy on Monday.
In a three-paragraph, Somali-language statement issued from his office, President Farmajo invited regional chiefs to a Feb. 15 summit in Garowe, the northeastern region’s main city, to hammer out a deal on the election dispute that raised the political temperature in the country already plagued by terrorists. Previous attempts to end the electoral impasse have failed to bear fruit, with the latest bid snagging on a disagreement over the management of the elections in Gedo and in the northwestern regions. Somali leaders have made some headway in the political parties’ rejection of the government-appointed members of the electoral commission.
“The Federal Government of Somalia will continue to strengthen its efforts toward conducting elections in the country and to deliberate contentious issues on the basis of implementing the agreement passed by the House of the People and the Senate on Sept. 26, 2020,” said the president’s statement.
In a message posted to its Twitter account, the northeastern region’s administration welcomed the call for dialogue, but appeared not to recognize President Farmajo’s legitimacy. Without mentioning the president’s name but instead focusing on the message of his statement, it suggested that the summit be held in the capital, Mogadishu, and other political stakeholders and the international community be brought on board.
The initial mandates of parliament and the presidency ended on Dec. 27, 2020 and Feb. 8, 2021 respectively. And the lack of clarity on what to do in the coming weeks and months has raised a new tension between the political parties and regional administrators on one hand and the executive and legislative branches on the other hand.
According to a bill passed by the two houses of parliament last September, an incumbent president is allowed to legally remain in office until his successor is elected and sworn in.
Asked whether the current Somali government is still legitimate, Spokesman for the UN Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric said, “It is not for the United Nations, in any setting, to anoint a Government, declare it legitimate or non‑legitimate. There are institutions that are in place that have been agreed to, that have been negotiated.”
The US on Tuesday called on Somali leaders to “resume their dialogue urgently so that national elections can take place.” It said, “the United States views immediate elections critical to Somalia’s future.”
“It’s the responsibility and duty of national and regional leaders to act in the interest of the Somali people, who, of course, deserve the best from their leaders,” said State Department’s Spokesman Ned Price.
The members of the UN Security Council also urged Somali leaders to “reach consensus on the arrangements for the conduct of inclusive elections, with a view to holding them as soon as possible,” said the UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, who read the council’s statement after being briefed by James Swan, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia.
The new development came the same day President Farmajo held talks with parliamentary Speaker Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman and his two Deputies Abdiwali Mudey and Mahad Abdalla Awad “for extensive talks.”
“This is part of my continuous and inclusive consultation for successful elections for #Somalia. Our House of the People has been instrumental in fulfilling its legislative oversight duties,” said the president on Twitter.
On Sept. 17, President Farmajo and five regional chiefs as well as the governor of Banadir region — where the nation’s capital, Mogadishu, is located — have agreed to hold indirect elections, but the implementation of the agreement has been hampered by differences among the leaders of the national government and regional administrations over three main sticking issues: The dispute over the management of the elections in Gedo and in the northwestern regions and political parties’ rejection of the government-appointed members of the electoral commission.
European Union’s Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell on Monday urged President Farmajo and regional leaders “to resolve the political deadlock” and to “conduct elections as soon as possible.”
Borrell appeared to favor a technical extension, saying the current tense state of affairs is not “in the interest of the citizens of Somalia.”
But he warned against any “parallel or partial process or an extension of the current mandate of the institutions, which is not technical in nature.”
The African Union Chairman Moussa Faki echoed Borrell’s call, urging, “all Somali stakeholders to put national interest first and constructively seek solution to their differences through dialogue and compromise.”