Somalia Leaders Agree to Hold Election Within 60 Days
Voice of America
28 May 2021, 06:35 GMT+10
WASHINGTON - Political leaders in Somalia agreed Thursday on a framework for long-delayed national elections, hoping to avert a crisis that could push the fragile Horn of Africa country into political violence.
The agreement signed by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and the leaders of five regional states laid out a path to parliamentary elections to begin within 60 days.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, following four days of talks in Mogadishu, Roble said the government is committed to implementing the agreement. My government is reassuring to the country s political stakeholders and to the Somali people that my government will hold free and fair indirect elections in line with this agreement, Roble said.
Deal calls for elections within 60 days (Adds details, background)
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, May 27 (Reuters) - Somalia s Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said he was committed to free and fair polls after he signed an agreement on Thursday with regional presidents to allow indirect elections to take place after delays had prompted a crisis.
Clan elders were meant to have selected lawmakers in December, who in turn were due to elect a new president on Feb. 8. Both procedures failed to take place, amid disputes over issues that included the composition of an election commission that would supervise the voting.
The disagreements caused concern that clans could turn on each other and that the al Shabaab Islamist group, which is linked to al Qaeda, could exploit a security vacuum.
Somalia's Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said he was committed to free and fair polls after he signed an agreement on Thursday with regional presidents to allow indirect elections to take place after delays had prompted a crisis.