NOW: Farmaajo briefs Lower House ahead of Dhusamareb talks

President Mohamed Farmaajo is currently addressing the Lower House ahead of the third round of the electoral talks in Dhusamareb.

Villa Somalia confirmed Friday evening the president will be traveling to Dhusamareb to attend the talks aimed at breaking the electoral deadlock as the country remains with barely four months before the term of the current government lapses.

The President is expected to brief the House of the upcoming talks which aim at seeking a compromise position to enable the country conduct polls this year. Lower House speaker Mohamed Mursal insisted last month the Elections Act endorsed by the House should be enforced in full. The law envisages a one-person-one-vote model but the electoral commission, NIEC has ruled out such milestone.

The talks in Dhusameb which this time around bring in political parties, civil society groups kick off today.

The UN and other international partners in Somalia warned Friday against failure by leaders to attend the talks after it emerged both Jubbaland and Puntland had boycotted the Technical Committee meetings.

“Failure by any leader to participate in the next summit would erode the still fragile trust, undermine the consensus-building process and impair the ability of the meeting to arrive at implementable decisions,” the joint statement read in part.

Meanwhile Goobjoog News correspondents in Dhusamareb say preparation for the meeting in complete and that leaders are now streaming in.