The president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Farmajo’, has convened state leaders on Monday in an attempt to unblock the electoral crisis that has undermined the already precarious stability in the African country.
In a statement issued by his office, the president said the two-day meetings in Mogadishu will try to bring the five leaders of the country’s federal states together to revive the September electoral agreement, one of the most important guidelines of the negotiations, reports the online edition of the newspaper ‘Garowe’.
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Somalia’s opposition candidates have joined the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland regions and formed on Thursday the National Salvation Council (NSC), which seeks “peaceful, stable and inclusive” elections in the African country.
The NSC leadership board is composed of Somali Senate President Abdi Hashi, former President Sharif Shaykh Ahmed, and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, Abdulahi Deni and Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe, respectively, the two states most at odds with the Somali president.
Farmajo’s call comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly called for the convening of presidential and legislative elections initially scheduled for last month and postponed due to lack of agreement on the composition of the electoral commission and the electoral teams in each state.
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