Farmajo asks AU to mediate in Somalia's political crisis

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The African Union [AU] should take a lead role in mediating Somalia's political impasse, outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has said, following his latest trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose President Felix Tshisekedi is the current chair of the Addis Ababa-based institution.

Farmajo arrived in Kinshasa on Sunday and proceeded to a meeting with President Felix Tshisekedi, with whom he held a two-hour meeting, leading to a consensus that the African Union should take a leading role in solving the current stalemate.

DR Congo presidency said: "Today [Monday] President Felix Tshisekedi met with the Federal Republic of Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo with whom they agreed to have AU as lead mediator in the current political stalemate in Somalia."

The continental body has previously failed to find tangible solutions in electoral crisis elsewhere in Africa with a number of opposition teams accusing them of being biased. President Felix Tshisekedi is the current AU Chairman.

In a two hours meeting with Tshisekedi, Farmajo said the DRC President should use his capacity as African Union Chairman to facilitate the process. The move perhaps gives Somalia's political stakeholders another chance to get back to the negotiating table.

"With regards to Somalia’s efforts to hold peaceful, inclusive and timely elections, my government would welcome the role of the AU in facilitating a Somali-led and Somali-owned engagement process that would lead to dialogue," Farmajo told Tshisekedi..

"I welcome AfricanUnion to take a leading role in facilitating an election process in which every citizen elects their representatives through free and fair elections. All Somali stakeholders will actively participate in the dialogue on the future of our democracy," he added in a tweet.

The statement, despite giving lack of hope for dialogue, clearly shows that Farmajo is not ready to disown the extension of his term for two years by Lower House given he's insisting on implementation of direct polls approach, which had been ruled out in September 17 pre-election deal.

After the extension of his term, Lower House insisted that the National Independent Electoral Commission [NIEC] of Somalia should purpose to hold universal suffrage polls. The commission, Lower House said, should carry out the exercise within two years.

GAROWE ONLINE