UNITED NATIONS Somalia’s foreign minister told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that an agreement has been reached between the federal government and regional states that will lead to long-delayed national elections. Mohamed Abdirizak said agreement on the three key issues to complete the deal was reached “in principle” Tuesday, culminating negotiations between the government…
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Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
Somalia’s political leaders reached an agreement paving the way for elections, the foreign affairs minister said, ending months of deadlock that at times turned violent.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s term expired in February, but election wrangling meant a new group of lawmakers was not selected in December to choose a new president.
To resolve the deadlock, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble met with presidents of five regions to address concerns over the election’s conduct.
“We have reached an agreement that will lead Somalia to free and fair elections. Going forward Somalia needs to have a predictable transition based on elections that are inclusive, credible, free and fair,” Abdirizak Mohamed said during a UN meeting on Somalia.
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President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. (Riccardo Savi, Getty Images via AFP)
A deal in principle has been reached in Somalia to organise new elections, its foreign minister told the UN Security Council Tuesday, after a postponement sparked one of the country s worst political crises in years.
Tensions soared in the Horn of Africa nation after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed last month extended by two years a mandate which had expired on 8 February.
Days after that decision, violence erupted in the capital as government forces clashed with pro-opposition groups who briefly took control of parts of the city. We have now reached an agreement that will lead Somalia to inclusive, credible, free and fair elections. The three key outstanding issues to complete the agreement were all discussed and agreed upon in principle, said Mohamed Abdirizak via videolink, without citing a date for the vote.
UNITED NATIONS
Somalia’s foreign minister told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that an agreement has been reached between the federal government and regional states that will lead to long-delayed national elections.
Mohamed Abdirizak said agreement on the three key issues to complete the deal was reached “in principle” Tuesday, culminating negotiations between the government and member states that began on May 22. He said a communique detailing the agreement will be issued Thursday at a closing ceremony.
“The negotiation process has not been easy, and this demonstrates how vital consensus remains, and without consensus how fragile peace in Somalia is, and how fragile our institutions of government remain,” Abdirizak said. “However, we have now reached an agreement that will lead Somalia to free elections, fairer elections.”