As many expected, Said Deni and Ahmed Madobe didn’t show up at the meeting today citing bogus pretexts. This meeting was however a trap and the two rebellious Leaders fell into it with their eyes wide open.
All of Somalia was curious about how the two recalcitrant leaders of Puntland and Jubaland would react who have long hampered the efforts of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
After having so much demanded that the international community interfere in Somalia’s internal affairs, the two leaders should have understood that Farmajo had time to think well about how to break free from the elections stalemate they designed.
As the saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”.
Farmajo simply turned their demands against them. Deni and Madobe could have detected clues in the about-face of the last minutes of the government which until then did not seem receptive to their new conditions.
They should also have been wary of the enthusiastic words of Mr. Osman Dubbe, the Minister of Information, when he said the government was ready to meet them “even if it is in the middle of the sea”.
Mr. Dubbe has turned out to be more than just a minister of information, rather, a shrewd strategist capable of turning the tide in favour of the government.
The president backed off so many times they must have thought that this time again he had no choice but to admit defeat in the face of their inflexibility.
As for the meeting schedule, published less than 24 hours before the date, it was all the more surprising as it caught the former presidents, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh, and the president of the Senate, Mr. Abdi Hashi, off-guard.
A few days ago, the former presidents, the speaker of the Senate and the two regional leaders had formed the National Salvation Forum to further complicate upcoming talks with the government.
The Coalition of Presidential Candidates who was loudly clamouring to be represented at the table was also taken aback and their top members invited to participate but only to give a closing statement.
Now that the real intentions of the opposition have been exposed, it is difficult for this group, which was making a lot of noise, spreading lies about the government’s intentions and shouting loud and clear that Farmajo is imitating his “uncle”, to regain the confidence of the international community.
They also have exposed themselves to the wrath of a population tired of their endless whining and to possible sanctions from the international community.
The US ambassador toughened his voice and urged the parties to come to an agreement and sign the September 17th agreement and launch the elections as soon as possible.
Mr. Deni and Mr. Madobe despite all the bluster have been stripped of their heavily armed militias and cannot leave Mogadishu until they come to an agreement with the President of Somalia on the electoral process.
The representative of the African Union, Mr. Francisco Madeira, showed the same impatience at Deni’s insistence that AMISOM take responsibility for the security of the Afisiyoni air base and that the presidential guard and the Somali police are expelled from the area.
Still, the two regional leaders will not have time to let their whims run free and now that they are cornered, they risk losing more than their credibility this time around.
