Gudlawe, Qoorqoor to mediate Deni fall-out

GOOBJOOG NEWS|BAIDOA: HirShabelle President Ali Gudlawe and his Galmudug counterpart Ahmed Qoorqoor have been tasked by the National Consultative Council to reach out to their Puntland counterpart Abdullahi Deni who has since severed ties with the Council and demanded special status.

The Council which is chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and comprises Federal Member State presidents, the Prime Minister and the Governor of Banaadir resolved in a  communique on Friday that the Gudlawe and Qoorqoor spearhead ‘reconciliation talks.’

Puntland announced on January 23 that it will only negotiate separately with the Federal Government on building programmes, especially on the completion of the provisional constitution, political agreements of power-sharing based on federal principles of security, resources sharing and international donations.

In effect, Deni was pulling out of the NCC which has become an informal framework of cooperation between the Federal Government and the Federal Member States. Puntland did not cite any reasons for pulling out of the NCC.

The easterly state has made similar threats in the past. In 2019, it announced a suspension of cooperation with the FGS and demanded that the executive should cease submission of bills to the parliament until the completion of the constitutional review process.

In the recent case however, sources say the decision by Puntland could have been driven by political differences with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over the last elections. Deni, sources said expected to get the PM’s position but was left out and further, President Mohamud went ahead and picked Abshir Huruse as foreign minister without Deni’s involvement.