Farmaajo hampering solutions to Somalia’s political crisis

Mustafa Kamel

Somalia’s political crisis, induced by the failure of the country’s outgoing president to hold elections, continues unabated.

The opposition in the eastern African country accused President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo of hampering negotiations between Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and a coalition of presidential hopefuls to defuse the political crisis in Somalia.

Farmaajo called for holding a consultative conference with the deep goal of undermining opposition to him.

As a result, the United Nations Security Council extended the mission of the African Union’s force in Somalia until the end of December this year to ensure that elections would be held in the restive African country.

Farmaajo as a stumbling block

The abovementioned conference was due to be held on March 4. However, it failed because of the failure of the government to meet the conditions of the opposition.

The opposition set a condition of involving all political parties in Somalia in the conference. This, it said, would help the country meet the challenges of the transitional phase. It also made it necessary for the conference to be held at a secure and neutral place. The opposition also called on the international community to present assurances that the agreements that would be reached in the conference would be implemented.

The Somali president did not give the opposition enough time to prepare for the conference since making the invitation for the gathering, observers said.

The Somali presidency declared the date of the conference only two days ahead.

This made it difficult for the opposition to make enough preparations for the event, the observers added.