Technical committee announces deal in poll gridlock

GOOBJOOG NEWS|BAIDOA: A technical committee appointed to unlock the ongoing electoral stalemate has announced a break-through in what could now pave way for a final endorsement by the federal and regional governments.

The committee which has been meeting in Baidoa, South West state announced Monday night the deal. According to the committee, the three contentious issues-Somaliland, Gedo and Federal elections team have been resolved.

The committee said it circulated a draft proposal to the Federal and State Government leaders and received a nod from them. It called for a meeting of the six leaders on February 18 but did not indicate the venue. It not clear if this timeline is feasible.

There were no details however on how the three issues were addressed.

A meeting convened by outgoing president Mohamed Farmaajo on Monday failed to kick off after Jubbaland and Puntland objected to the decision to hold the meeting in Garowe and instead routed for Mogadishu.

But on a greater scale, the two sides had sharply differed on the management of elections in Gedo region. While Ahmed Madobe (Jubbaland) insisted on full control of the process, Farmaajo stood ground on withdrawal of federal troops and an FGS appointed administration in the region.

Madobe too wanted to appoint a new governor for Gedo region to replace the current one appointed by the Federal Government.

The question of Somaliland which has heavily been contested by Senate speaker Abdi Hashi remains another issue standing in the way of a deal. While the Baidoa team said they had reached a deal on the Somaliland question, Senate speaker who is the seniormost elected official from the region dismissed the statements as ‘misleading’.

There is no deal reached on Somaliland, Hashi said and urged that the people of Somaliland be left to manage their own elections including settling on venues and procedures for the elections.