Farmaajo’s close ally, HirShabelle’s Gudlawe to skip Mogadishu poll talks

GOOBJOOG NEWS|JOWHAR: HirShabelle state, a close ally of the outgoing president Mohamed Farmaajo has said it will not be attending the upcoming electoral talks round between Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and Federal Member State leaders.

In a statement Sunday, the youngest Federal Member State however did not cite any reasons for its intention to skip the talks.

“The Hirshabelle government declares that it is not part of the meeting of the National Consultative Council of the Federal Government, the Member States and the Benadir Regional Administration that will open tomorrow in Mogadishu,” the statement read in part.

The Ali Gudlawe-led administration added that it will therefore not agree with the outcome of the talks but stands with the May 2021 and September 2020 Agreements. “Hirshabelle will abide by the implementation of the agreement signed on September 17th and May 27th in Mogadishu.”

Goobjoog News has however learnt Gudlawe’s decision to boycott the meeting is because of a likely reopening of the two agreements to reduce the number of polling centres from two to one in each FMS.

There have been reports that some FMS leaders are pushing for the elections to take place in one centre as opposed to two provided by the two agreements.

Gudlawe’s opposition to the upcoming talks is however likely to face strong headwinds given the unanimous endorsement of the talks by the other FMS leaders and the support from both the opposition and the international community.

The meeting is likely to kick off tomorrow as most FMS leaders have arrived in Mogadishu.