Former president blasts gov’t decision to hold partial elections

Former president blasts gov’t decision to hold partial elections

Source: Hiiraan Online, Sunday January 10, 2021

Mogadishu (HOL) – Former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has reacted strongly to the government’s decision to hold national elections despite strong opposition from some regional states.

Speaking during a press conference in Mogadishu on Saturday night, Hassan Sheikh described the government’s decision as a threat to the country’s unity, adding that it was unacceptable to hold a one-party election.

Both Jubaland and Puntland have refused to participate in the elections unless the federal government met several prerequisites. Chief among them was the dismantling of the elections committee, which they perceive as being stacked with Farmaajo loyalists. As well as removing federal troops from the Gedo region. said that Somalia began to chart a political path to legitimate elections by consensus after stakeholders convened in Dhusamareeb for several conferences and later in Mogadishu, where opposition figures and the federal government made a deal. He accused the federal government of negating that arrangement.

“The Somali people must know that the reason why the deal isn’t being honoured is because of the federal government. They are the ones responsible for dispatching federal troops to regional states, and actively trying to subvert the political process in the name of President Farmaajo.”

Mohamud condemned the recent incursion into Beledweyne by federal troops to quell unrest in the Hiiraan region.

He warned that the blame for any political instability caused on February 8th by the government’s decision to hold partial elections would be squarely at the President’s feet and his supporters.