Farmajo under more pressure from Somalia's opposition candidates

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's opposition presidential candidates intensified onslaught against President Farmajo, who they now accuse of working contrary to the September election pact which was signed by his Government and the Federal States, and that is yet to be implemented.

Somalia is supposed to hold elections from this month but various underlying issues among them controversy surrounding the picking of Electoral Committee members have delayed the process, with both sides now accusing each other of "complicity and sabotage".

In a letter seen by Garowe Online and which is addressed to UN and cc'ed to IGAD, AU, EU OIC, NORWAY, UK & US, the 14 candidates have denied claims that they are opposed to the model of elections that was settled, which was to apply in the much-anticipated elections.

The Union said that "the Council’s concerns are not related to the agreement, but the mismanagement of the agreement’s implementation process". They squarely accuse Farmajo of being an impedance to the implementation of the deal.

According to the candidates, Farmajo erred in unilaterally appointing commissioners to the electoral committee, which is set to conduct elections. In fact, the team claims most of those picked are close associates of the president, adding that the move would erode confidence in the team.

" The alarming partisan and unilateral implementation and interpretation of the said agreement by the Federal Government has resulted in the arbitrary appointment of electoral management teams that include members of the Somali security forces, civil servants, and well-known sycophant supporters of the current president," reads the letter.

The team, which cited instances of instability at Hirshabelle, boiling political temperatures in Mogadishu, and the situation in Gedo, further accused the current administration of interfering also with nominations of the electoral committee for Somaliland, which was reportedly done by Villa Somalia.

The process, they argue, sidelined Senate Speaker Abdi Hashi, who hails from Somaliland, and who has "legal mandate" to make the appointment of the electoral body that will oversee the election of the northern MPs.

Already, both Hashi and the presidential candidates came with parallel lists that have triggered heightened political temperatures in Mogadishu.

"Further, the President's insistence on supervising the selection of the Somaliland electoral seats by sidelining the Speaker of the Upper House, the most senior political representative of Somaliland, Abdi Hashi, as well as the Somaliland elite is unacceptable," the letter further says.

"It indicates the president’s disregard for the principle of collective and sincere consensus building. For example, during the last election, in the absence of the Upper House, the selection of the Upper house electoral team was managed by then-Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawaari in an effort to protect the integrity of the process, as the then President and the Prime Minister."

Also in the mix is the international community which the team accuses of being too fast to "legitimize" fraudulent elections, citing examples in Galmadug where the US was "too quick to recognize". These, they say, "encouraged President Farmajo to assault on our nascent democracy and try to rig the election at the federal level, in the hope that the international community will confer legitimacy on the exercise same as they did with the regional states".

In the light of the fundamental principle of leveling the playing field for all actors to ensure a legitimate process, they said, "the Council calls for the following urgent remedial actions to salvage the Integrity and credibility of the upcoming electoral process."

The tough-worded letter was copied to various international actors among them the UN, AU, and IGAD which are instrumental in Somalia's building process which has been derailed by Al-Shabaab resurgence and persistent internal politics, which are usually clan-based. The United Nations Mission Assistance in Somalia is their key target.

But the council assures that it "remains ready to constructively engage on these matters as the responsibility of the future of our people weighs heavily on all political leaders". Nonetheless, they added: " We would like to clarify that the ultimate responsibility lies with the current leadership which is hell-bent to plunge the country into chaos."

They also want the government of Farmajo to heed to alarming concerns reverberating from all members of the Somali society. This is the umpteenth time the team is calling for consensus before elections are held in the country, with the timeline expected to be on February 2021.

And the union now wants the international community to vigorously engage the process before taking sides in the process. The community is responsible for funding the process, which is set to be held from the constituency level before a new president is picked next year.

GAROWE ONLINE