Somalia’s opposition is planning to create a new council, which is due to oversee elections, triggering fears over renewed clashes between rival factions similar to those that rocked the capital Mogadishu in April.
The Council of Presidential Candidates has recently boycotted elections, citing allegations of fraud and manipulation in the election process.
Somalia’s PM Mohamed Hussein Roble rebuffed proposals by the opposition to delay polls for a few months to take rectification measures prior to the votes could again start.
PM spokesman later said it was not in the premiere’s job to serve as a referee and record every error committed during the parliamentary sham polls in Somalia.
Opposition leaders extended an invitation to a number of former leaders and influential politicians, including former presidents of Puntland Abdirahman Farole and Abdiweli Gas, and ex- Somalia’s PM Omar Abdiarshid Ali Sharmarke to expand consultations on forming a new Council, which is designed to serve as a parallel gov’t.
There is a growing fear that the opposition plans include to redeploy factions of the army aligned with it to Mogadishu to protect its leaders from imminent attacks from Farmajo’s allies.
“The danger is that we could be in a scenario similar to what we saw this April,” Rashid Abdi, a regional political analyst said, referring to clashes between rival factions in Mogadishu that followed an extension of the president’s term in office.
The solution is to return to the 2016 electoral model without any modifications, as well as changes in the leadership of the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT).
Abdikarim Hasan, a lawyer, said it is Roble’s responsibility to ensure that the country does not slide back into a state of conflict.
