In a move believed is aimed at easing tensions in the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia’s president has called for fresh presidential polls.
The East African Country’s Presdient – Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, has revealed that he will no longer seek a two-year extension to his term in office as earlier intended.
Last week after disagreements over how to hold elections Farmajo had controversially approved the move that would have seen him stay in office for atleast two more years.
However, it elicited 3 days of clashes in Mogadishu between rival factions of the security forces.
There are fears the row could see Somalia lurch back towards the clan-based violence that scarred the country after the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.
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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mohamed Roble has urged civilians who fled their neighbourhoods during the fighting to return home.
President Farmajo’s late-night address on Tuesday has not appeased everyone and some opposition fighters have vowed to stand their ground, saying they remain wary of his promises.
‘The reaction from civil society and opposition groups in Mogadishu suggests that they welcome the retreat but everything else that brought us to the brink of civil war remains,‘ Somali academic Abdi Samatar, from the University of Minnesota, told BBC Focus on Africa radio.
‘It does not advance the negotiation process any further than we’ve been engaged in over the last three or four months,’ he warned.
Somali elections are conducted under a complex indirect system where clan elders select MPs, who in turn choose the president.
President Farmajo’s mandate expired in February but no vote has been held because of regional squabbles over how power is distributed – and a row over a new election commission.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK