Somalia: Farmajo chairs meeting boycotted by Puntland and Jubaland

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has opened the third round of the talks over the model of the upcoming general elections in the Horn of Africa country, Garowe Online reports.

In a statement, Villa Somalia announced the meeting has kicked off on Tuesday morning in the central town of Dhusamareb with the attendance of Ahmed Abdi Kariye [Qor-Qor] of Galmudug, Abdulaziz Lafta-Gareen of Southwest, and Mohamed Abdi Ware from HirShabelle in addition to Mogadishu mayor Omar Filish.

Puntland and Jubaland have boycotted the conference, citing president Farmajo's lack of commitment to reach a deal to hold the 2020/21 elections on time after failing to appoint a new PM ahead of the Dhusamareb III summit.

Qor-Qor urged the two Federal States to join the leaders for the FG-FMS forum in the capital of Galmudug state to discuss forthcoming elections. 

The Prime Minister, Puntland argued, will help implement the decisions which would be reached out and called for diplomats of Somalia's international partners to participate in the final phase of the dialogue as guarantors.

For its part, Jubaland has released a statement on Monday, August 17 in which it condemned the ouster of PM Hassan Ali Khaire on July 25 by parliament through a vote of a no-confidence motion against him.

The Federal State based in Kismayo said the move to dismiss PM is aimed to undermine the outcome of Dhusamareb II and the implementation of previous political agreements over the modalities of the parliamentary election in November this year and the next presidential vote in February 2021.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is still insisting on one person, one vote election while Federal state leaders say such an election process is not realistic as time is running out and 10th Parliament’s mandate is set to expire in two months’ time.

The meeting comes amid pressure from the international community which said preserving the recently cultivated trust among the leaders and sustaining the consensus-building process initiated during the last Dhusamareb summit is imperative in order to keep Somalia on a stable political path.