Electoral talks ‘indefinitely postponed’ as Farmaajo, FMS leaders fail to agree on preconditions

Sources told Goobjoog News the meeting has been postponed with no definite timeframe even as the country runs out of time to prepare for elections in line with the Provisional Constitution. It is understood that a meeting between Farmaajo and Jubbaland president Ahmed Madobe Wednesday did not yield fruit but it was not clear if that was the only contentious issue on the table.

Madobe had demanded that Farmaajo withdraws federal troops deployed in the Gedo region early this year following a standoff between Kismayo and Mogadishu.

South West, Galmudug and HirShabelle presidents arrived in Mogadishu yesterday to join their Jubbaland and Puntland counterparts who have in the city for a week now.

The leaders are expected to agree on a compromise electoral deal after it emerged in July the country could not head for polls under the current Elections Act which provides for a one-person-one-vote formula. Both Deni and Madone skipped the third round of talks in Dhusamareb frustrating a joint agreement between the Federal Government and Federal Member States.