Somali crisis getting worse as Farmaajo hinders solutions

Ahmed Adel

The political crisis in Somalia is set to worsen in the coming period against the background of tensions between President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and the opposition.

A member of the Somali opposition coalition was quoted by Somali media as accusing Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble of failing to take up his responsibility of leading the east African country for a transitional period following the end of Farmaajo’s presidential term.

Abdurrahman Abulshakur said President Farmaajo keeps interfering with the aim of increasing confusion on the Somali political stage and staying more in power.

Trimming the president’s powers

Roble said a coalition of presidential hopefuls had requested to be part of negotiations with the federal government on the elections.

This makes it necessary for some amendments to be introduced to the agreement signed in this regard on 17 September 2020, he wrote on Facebook.

The coalition of presidential hopefuls called, meanwhile, for trimming the powers of the president and passing his powers onto the prime minister.

The coalition also called for keeping the army away from politics as well as sacking some army commanders and officers who participated in violence against the opposition on 19 February.

The coalition also said it would be part of any future negotiations on the elections. It said all forms of repression of the opposition must stop.

The coalition accused the federal government of violating the agreement signed in September.

It said the government is showing increasing intolerance to opposition and street protests.

Backtracking

The government is reneging on its initial promise of allowing the opposition to stage peaceful demonstrations against the Somali president.

The coalition of presidential hopefuls has consequently postponed protests it planned for the next few days. It said it would not stage the protests before ensuring the safety of the demonstrators.