Somalia on edge after failure of political talks with opposition

Ahmed Adel

Political talks between the Somali government and the opposition have faltered, bringing political tensions back to Somali capital Mogadishu.

This has opened the door for security unrest, something that is expected to become worse in the future if parties to the political conflict in the country fail to reach an agreement soon. This will surely threaten Somalia’s political future.

Failure of talks

The third round of talks between the interim government and a coalition of presidential hopefuls ended on a note of failure.

This came after seven hours of continual talks between the two sides.

The two parties met on 4 March to discuss pending political issues, especially the aspired elections and the candidates ‘role in organizing and conducting them.

Nevertheless, the talks produced no results.

The coalition said at a press briefing following the failure of the talks that it had offered concessions to the government.

Coalition member Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Shakur said the coalition offered the concessions reach understandings on disputed issues.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the Somali prime minister’s failure to exercise his constitutional powers in taking fateful decisions.

The prime minister, he said, is only good at accusing external parties of fanning the crisis in Somalia, especially when he is required to take important decisions.

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble conceded that the talks came to an end without achieving tangible results.

Useless concessions

Roble wrote on Twitter that the government offered concessions too.

He noted that the members of the coalition of presidential hopefuls had asked to be part of a conference that would be held by the federal government and the heads of Somali states.

Nevertheless, this would require the introduction of amendments to the 17 September agreement with the opposition, the Somali prime minister said.

“This is not within the boundaries of my mandate or constitutional prerogative,” he added.