MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) –Meeting between Somali president and the leaders of Galmudug, Southwest and Hirshabelle regional states has occurred in the town of Dhusamareb ahead of the opening of a consultative summit on elections.
During the meeting, leaders have discussed the cause of a delay to Dhusamareb 3 summit which was scheduled to take place on August 15.
Presidents of Puntland and Jubaland have not been in attendance at the meeting and are said to be in overseas visits to Kenya and Djibouti. According to regional officials, they are expected to cut short their trips to join up with the summit.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and the leaders of pro-government regional states of Hirshabelle, Galmudug and Southwest also focused during the meeting on making joint decision on election models.
Over the past few weeks, Puntland and Galmudug officials have been expressing dismay at the potential results of Dhusamareb conference, voicing concerns that the federal government is not sincerely ready to arrive at an agreement on election models.
On Saturday, president Farmajo speaking before parliament said he would return any deal reached with federal member states leaders to parliament for approval, saying the decision of MPs should be accepted widely throughout the country as they represent regional states and the nation as a whole.
The president also described Dhusamareb summit as a repetitive process of an already signed political agreement in Baidoa back in 2018, arguing that the current efforts are aimed to invalidate previous deal that sought popular elections to be held in the year 2020-21.
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