MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia’s Future Council opposition bloc is pressing for a wider international hand in the country’s increasingly fraught election talks, arguing that mediation should not be left to any one party as disputes deepen between the opposition and the federal government, political sources said.
The push comes amid a move by Turkey to assume a central role in the negotiations, with Ankara’s intelligence service reportedly leading efforts to secure a political deal between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration and opposition figures.
Sources familiar with the discussions said representatives of the international community recently met with members of the Future Council, who laid out their final position on the electoral process. The opposition, they said, backed a model at odds with the one preferred by Villa Somalia and warned that the window for agreement is narrowing.
Turkish officials, the sources added, believe they can convince President Hassan Sheikh to accept a consensus-based electoral arrangement and have started to outline a roadmap intended to build confidence among opposition leaders.
Even so, the opposition is standing firm in its view that mediation should be broadened to include the wider international community, a move it says would help guarantee neutrality and strengthen the chances of a durable settlement.
In a separate development, the federal government recently informed international partners that it was still committed to an electoral formula similar to those used in the latest regional votes in Banadir and South West State, diplomatic sources said. Critics have long said those contests were marked by limited competition and lacked wide political consensus.
The standoff over Somalia’s election framework has sharpened tensions between the government and opposition, while raising concern among international partners about whether a negotiated deal can be reached before upcoming polls.
AXADLETM
