FNP welcomes FMS meeting, scolds Villa Somalia over "bad attitude"

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's opposition team has welcomed the much-anticipated meeting involving all regional leaders in Dhusamareb, terming it "important and necessary" to fostering peace and stability in the Horn of Africa nation.

Puntland, Jubaland, HirShabelle, and Southwest leaders will be hosted by Ahmed Kariye alias Qoor Qoor, the president of Galmadug, on Thursday in Dhusamareb, in a meeting which is scheduled to last for at least three days.

The meeting was convened after the federal government of Somalia failed to hold a similar conference in Mogadishu, which had been scheduled for July 5-8. Villa Somalia did not immediately reveal the reason why Sunday's planned meeting was aborted.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday, the Forum for National Parties [FNP], which is a conglomerate of six opposition parties under former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, hailed the regional leaders for having Somalia in their "heart".

The meeting, FNP said, should focus on pushing for timely elections and demanding for implementation of certain electoral laws that need "urgent" consensus among all stakeholders. The team further asked regional leaders to be "bold" in their quest.

However, the opposition team accused the Federal Government of Somalia of failing to convene the security meeting last Sunday, adding that the move was strong evidence that President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has "failed" the country.

"The FNP is disappointed by the failure of National Security Council meeting between the federal government and member states that was pledged on July 5-8 in Mogadishu, thus showing strong evidence on the failure of the current regime," read the statement.

Despite its absence from the regional meeting, FNP charged, the FGS must strive for the stability of the country, adding that holding of a free, fair, and credible election should be the main concern for the current leadership, whose term expires in October this year.

"The absence of the federal leadership from the conference is a sign of poor management and the FNP urges FGS to stand up to its constitutional mandate to hold free, peaceful and fair elections," added the statement, which amid a backdrop of electioneering debate in Somalia.

"FNP encourages any efforts that can bring unity and practical understanding," the coalition, which is set to field a single presidential candidate said, adding that all stakeholders should push for a timely election in the war-torn nation.

Recently, the National Independent Electoral Commission [NIEC] ruled out the possibility of holding elections in November 2020 as dictated by the constitution, arguing that the time left is limited for a one-person-one-vote election. A number of stakeholders have been pushing for this model.

The commission, Halima Ismael said, would deliver a practical election on March 2021. The statement irked the opposition, which now accuses the FGS of colliding with the electoral commission and the international community to push for an unconstitutional term extension.

GAROWE ONLINE