The International community in Somalia has called upon leaders from states in the federal government to attend the ongoing meeting in Dhusamareb aimed at agreeing on a model of elections.
The President of Puntland Saed Abdulahi Deni and his counterpart from Jubbaland Ahmed Mohamed Islam did not attend the forum citing political differences in a separate press statement issued from Garowe and Kismayo respectfully on Tuesday.
“The partners strongly encourage Federal Member State leaders who have yet to join the meeting to directly engage with their colleagues now in Dhusamareb to resolve any outstanding issues in order that all may participate.”
A joint press release by AU, IGAD, EU, UK, US, and Japan on Wednesday welcomed the kickoff of the third-round talks in Galmudug administrative capital saying the participation of all Somali leaders in the meeting is key the next stage of state-building.
“The partners emphasize that the participation of all leaders in this summit is critical to sustain the consensus-building process and produce a broad-based agreement on modalities for the 2020/21 federal elections that satisfy all Somali stakeholders. They remind all leaders of the importance of safeguarding Somalia’s state-building progress and honoring previous commitments.”
While offering necessary support upon request to the ongoing meeting the international partners cautioned against any attempt to implement an election model that is not inclusively agreed.
“The partners once again stress that any attempt by a single stakeholder, or a few stakeholders, to impose electoral modalities will lack legitimacy and will not be implementable without the essential support from all other stakeholders. The partners are closely monitoring developments in Dhusamareb and follow up on the actions agreed and stand ready to offer such support as may be requested by all participants to facilitate implementation.”
