threemonth

Somalia’s election test: dialogue over deadlock as May vote nears Somalia is not simply approaching an election. It is entering a three-month test of political maturity that will define its democratic trajectory well beyond 2026. On Feb. 26, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud convened talks with the Somali Future Council to break a stalemate over the electoral framework and constitutional reforms ahead of the May elections. The talks failed, exposing a fragile consensus and the depth of disagreements that have simmered beneath…

The Taliban has offered a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of 7,000 insurgent prisoners, an Afghan government negotiator said on Thursday, when Pakistan confirmed that the militant group had control of an important border crossing. "There is a huge demand," said Nader Nadery, a key member of the government group involved in peace talks with the Taliban, adding that the rebels also demanded that their leaders' names be removed from a UN blacklist. It was not immediately clear how the government would…