​Somalia: Talks fail between Hirshabelle President, Hiiran’s clan elder

BALADWEYNE, Somalia- The President of newly established state “Hirshabelle”, Ali Abdulahi Osoble held meetings with Hiiraan’s clan chief who boycotted the state formation process conference in Jowhar town, Garowe Online reports.

In the closed-door meetings held between the two sides, President Osoble urged the clan chief to support his administration, but the clan chief implied that he will remain neutral in the matter till he sees the outcome of the state building process, according to close sources.

Following the talks, President Osoble spoke to the local media, and noted that the meetings focused on outstanding issues without giving clear indication on the progress of the talks.

“Ugas Hasan is my clan elder, I received warm welcome, we met, we talked about the differences, and he told us he will closely watch how the process will go, and its actually what we have expected from any person, if a new administration is formed, it will be evaluated by its achievements, and its expected from everyone to judge our performance and how we guarantee people’s rights, he is not against it, there is no district or region opposing the new administration,” said Osoble.

He further explained that his administration will see the inclusion of many politicians from Hiiran region, which will eliminate the likelihood of failure of his administration, but close sources reported that the clan chief has told Osoble, that his administration will most probably fail to succeed.  

This is the first attempt by President Osoble, whose elected last week as the new leader for Hirshabelle state in Jowhar town in Middle Shabelle region, to convince regional elders to endorse the newly formed administration.

This comes amid the inauguration ceremony expected to be held for the new President of Hirshabelle state. Caretaker Somali President Hasan Shaikh Mahmoud has landed in Jowhar on Saturday along with Somali officials to participate in the inauguration ceremony.

GAROWEONLINE