Somalia’s President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called for a return to dialogue and elections in the country.
The President made this call to calm tension caused by the two years extension of his mandate in the country. This has sparked the country’s worst political violence in years.
Tension has been on the rise in Somalia since Abdullahi’s four-year term lapsed in February, as he and leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, two of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states, failed to agree on how to conduct elections.
The President failed to follow the agreement made in September for a free and fair election despite warnings from international community.
The agreement paved way for indirect elections whereby special delegates chosen by Somalia’s myriad clan elders pick lawmakers, who in turn choose the president.
He addressed the nation at the early hours of Wednesday after hours of anticipation, with Mogadishu on a knife’s edge as government troops and pro-opposition soldiers beefed up their positions and civilians fled their homes.
According to him, He would appear before parliament on Saturday to “gain their endorsement for the electoral process”, calling on political actors to hold “urgent discussions” on how to conduct the vote.
He indicated readiness to implement timely and peaceful elections in the country and called upon all signatories of the September 17 agreement to immediately come together for urgent discussions on the unconditional implementation of the above-mentioned agreement.