UN Security Council calls for the end of Somalia political crisis
On Friday, the UN Security Council issued a statement appealing sides in Somalia to reject violence and resume dialogue as a matter of urgency and without precondition, highlighting its concern about the country’s political crisis.
The document stated that the members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern about the continued political impasse and disagreement among Somalia’s political leaders on the model for elections. Previously, the Security Council and after an urgent gathering, appealed Somali authorities to resolve the disagreement about the electoral operation.
Indeed, the legal authority of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed who is known as Farmaajo, has been in doubt situation since February as his four-year term finished before holding of new presidential elections. Moreover, a law previously this month to extend his mandate by two years surpassed the Senate after being adopted by the lower house of parliament.
However, opposition sides criticized the move and described it as an illegal proposal to adhere to power, and the international community criticized the law.
Furthermore, the president and leaders of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous federal states achieved a deal in September that facilitate the way for indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2020 and early 2021.
The failure of the elections
Nevertheless, the elections were failed as disputes erupted about how to conduct the vote, and multiple sessions of discussions have failed to solve the dispute.
In fact, the new law facilitates the way for a one-person, one-vote election in 2023, which is the first such direct election since 1969 that Somalis have been pledged for years and no government could carry it.
The Security Council statement also said that the political conflict is also diverting attention from pressing problems such as floods, drought, desert locusts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and combatting the terrorist threat of Al-Shabaab.
