The UN Security Council wants Somali leaders to fix a dead end “as soon as possible”
NEW YORK –Somalia’s leaders must use the “earliest opportunity” to break the deadlock in the country, the UN Security Council [UNSC] has said and added that a solution must be found to the model and nature of future elections.
For several months now, the AP reports that stakeholders from all areas, including those from the international community, have tried to unlock the stalemate, but suspicions from both sides of the political divide have technically made it impossible for the country to move forward.
The country had planned to hold elections since December last year, but the administration of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo failed to implement various election agreements, including those signed on September 17, 2020.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the UN Security Council said inclusive elections should be held “as soon as possible” after a closed-door meeting with UN envoy to Somalia James Swan. Mr. Swan has been at the forefront, trying to unite both the opposition and the outgoing government for the sake of peace.
Since February 8, Farmajo, whose term expired, has been under pressure to either step down and hand over power to the transitional authority or pave the way for smooth and credible choices. Northeastern State and Jubaland states have accused him of failing to implement various agreements, including the recent Baidoa recommendations.
Some of the divisive issues regarding the forthcoming election include members of the nomination committee, selection of commissioners from secessionist North Western of Somaliaand withdrawal of federal troops from Gedo, a region bordering Kenya.
Critics accuse Mohamed, who is seeking another term of four years, of postponing the election to extend his current term. The president has blamed unnamed foreign interventions. On Wednesday, opposition MPs accused speaker Mohamed Abdirahman Mursal of planning to extend Farmajo’s term.
But for the Security Council, all parties should implement the agreement ahead of the September 17 election, claiming it captured most of the concerns. This was the second appeal this month by the UN’s most powerful body in action to organize elections.
Earlier this month, the council called on the federal government and regional states to “organize free, fair, credible and inclusive elections” in accordance with the September agreement “without delay.”
This appeal was in a resolution authorizing the African Union to maintain its nearly 20,000-strong force in Somalia until the end of the year with a mandate to reduce the threat posed by al-Shabab and extremist groups to enable “a stable, federal, sovereign and united Somalia. ”
The council on Wednesday “reiterated their condemnation of al-Shabab’s terrorist attacks and reaffirmed their support for Somalia’s national sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.”
During the meeting, the Council praised the efforts of the African Union mission forces to try to liberate most parts of the country from the al-shabaab militants. The AMISOM team has close to 22,000 troops, most of whom are ready to leave Somalia after full implementation of the Somali Transitional Plan.
Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to the UN Security Council, who called for the meeting along with other councilors, said Swan told the council that Somalia’s electoral process required “rapid attention.”
She said the council very much welcomes Swan’s efforts “to bring the parties together and proceed with the election as soon as possible, but without compromising.”
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Representative to the UN and President of the Security Council in March on the situation in Somalia, also reiterated that Somalia’s leaders should resolve the election path as soon as possible.
Somalia began to fall apart in 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned against each other. Years of conflict and al-Shabab attacks along with famine left this Horn of Africa country with about 12 million people largely crushed.
Al-Shabab rebels were expelled from the capital Mogadishu in 2011 and have been pushed out of other major cities, but still control large parts of southern and central Somalia and often target the capital with suicide bombings.
AXADLETM
.
