Today, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, the Prime Minister, the presidents of the five states and the governor of the Benadir region meet face-to-face for the second day at the Afisiyoni Tent airbase in Mogadishu.
The conference, which started yesterday, is closed to the public and will focus on election-related issues, in particular the agenda for the consultative meeting.
These meetings which started yesterday are preparing the next Electoral Consultative Conference in Mogadishu, and the discussion revolves around how the conference can be held.
Key sources said at yesterday’s meeting that no progress had been made and that today’s debate on the election would be directly involved.
Jubaland leader Ahmed Madobe, Puntland leader Said Abdullahi Deni and Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo exchanged serious accusations at yesterday’s conference, and it ended without result.
Today, leaders resumed talks, discussing the agenda for the next conference and how to reach a formal agreement on the electoral conflict in Somalia.
However, today’s meeting was clouded by a clash between Said Deni and Omar Filish, the governor of Benadir, over the representation of the Benadir region in the Senate and Filish’s participation in the present meeting.
Federal elections in Somalia have yet to reach a formal agreement due in large part to last-minute obstacles raised by Puntland and Jubaland leaders.
The crisis created by this political impasse brought other opponents into the fray which further complicated the discussion around the electoral process.
International pressure persuaded the two regions, which until recently refused to meet with the president, to sit down with stakeholders and find a way out this deadlock.
