Somalia's pre-election dialogue receives major boost ahead of crucial meeting

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The much anticipated Somalia dialogue received a major boost on Tuesday following reports that a number of stakeholders have shown signs of engaging in the final phase of talks, which are due to take place this week in Mogadishu, the capital city of the Horn of Africa nation.

For the last one week, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and his Jubaland counterpart Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe have been holed up in Mogadishu but talks with Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo are yet to yield any substantive outcome due to underlying issues that were yet to be solved.

The two leaders, who had missed the Dhusamareb III conference, insisted that the talks would only make meaning if the leaders from HirShabelle, Galmadug, and Southwest attended. The leadership of the three states and Mogadishu Mayor Omar Filish had attended the Dhusamareb III conference where they supported the outcome.

Also, Madobe had called for an immediate withdrawal of Somali National Army [SNA] troops from the Gedo region as a pre-agreement ahead of election talks. Last week, multiple sources indicated that the federal government had agreed to evacuate the troops from the region pending the Mogadishu talks although details about this progress remain scanty.

But on Tuesday, reports indicated that HirShabelle President Mohamed Abdi Waare arrived in Baidoa on Tuesday and his Galmadug counterpart Ahmed Abdi Kariye is set to travel to the city, where they are set to convince Abdiaziz Lafta-Gareen to attend the Mogadishu conference.

The three will hold talks before making a decision on whether or not to travel to Mogadishu. But sources indicate that the three leaders will join their counterparts in Mogadishu for a series of talks aimed at solving a looming election crisis, which could plunge the country into a possible crisis.

On Wednesday, sources added, the three are likely to travel to Mogadishu for the talks. Last month, the three along with Farmajo settled on a constituency caucus election model, but it's yet to be approved by the Jubaland and Puntland leadership, a move which occasioned the ongoing Mogadishu talks.

The international community is pushing for a pre-election settlement with the aim of Africa pushing for peace and stability in Somalia. The term for the current administration is set to expire in November after which the country will go for elections.

GAROWE ONLINE