How Farmajo is "disrupting" upcoming election talks in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The pre-election talks that were scheduled at Halane Base Camp may after all not yield much, Garowe Online has learned, following the latest development, that would see a number of stakeholders miss, in what could now delay reconciliation in the country.

Multiple sources hinted to Garowe Online about the new complexity, which would severely injure reconciliation talks, contrary to the expectation of the International Community, which has been fighting extremely hard to rectify the situation.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, whose term expired last month, is reportedly keen to have pro-Villa Somalia states, Galmudug, South West, and HirShabelle not join their Puntland and Jubaland counterparts in Mogadishu, in an attempt to kill time for the talks.

Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland and Ahmed Madobe of Jubaland have been in Mogadishu for some days now, where they were expected to join others for the pre-election talks. On Sunday, they met with the council of the presidential Candidates in Mogadishu to discuss resolving the electoral dispute.

According to sources, leaders of South West and Galmudug are currently in Turkey. It's not clear why they traveled out of the country yet they had been notified of the plans to have talked over the electoral stalemate, which color plunge the country into chaos.

There are reports that the three leaders could be coming to Mogadishu this week however, they are not keen to have the talks held at Halane Base Camp. Jubaland and Puntland had insisted that the talks must be held in the camp for safety purposes.

"Farmajo told the international community that he is in dispute only with the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland and that the conference should only be a ceremony to sign the Sep 17 agreement," ignoring security concerns and the end of the government's term, "sources told Garowe Online.

Farmajo's derailment of the summit has already raised eyebrows among stakeholders including the Union of Candidates, Civil Society Organizations, and Politicians who warned that prolonged stalemate that could lead to a disaster.

"To hold agreed upon and peaceful elections every four years has been an important part of our nations' political reconciliation. The outgoing regime however created conditions of animosity and suspicion that has, in turn, deepen the mistrust and risk the entire state and peace-building project," said Abdishakur Warsame, the Wadajir party leader.

Despite the grave allegations, Villa Somalia insists that it's ready to facilitate the talks for the sake of moving forward. It's worthy to note that the tenure of the current administration has since expired, the reason why the country is struggling to hold elections.

GAROWE ONLINE