somalia is facing a leadership crisis
after president mohammad abdullahi
mohammed's first term in office ended
with no clear path toward
elections on monday an alliance of
opposition parties said they would
no longer recognize president muhammad
abdullahi mohammed
the u.n security council will meet to
discuss somalia's political crisis now
the country was supposed to hold
an election by monday but the february 8
deadline was missed
as the central government and federal
states wobbled over how to conduct
the vote there's a
tense atmosphere in the country people
in the capital mogadishu told us
they are fearful of what could happen
people are concerned because of the
tension between presidential candidates
and the government and because the
election was not held on time
we hope our leaders will resolve this
tension and halt the election
and we hope the government and the
opposition will come together
and agree on the election process
we need peace and stability
we want both the opposition and the
current government to work together for
the good of the country
if the politicians don't come to an
understanding
it could lead to war destruction
and the rising crime
and i am now joined by abdul aziz billow
he's a journalist in somalia's capital
mogadishu good to have you on the
program
abdulazid why are leaders in somalia
failing to agree on how to conduct the
election
there's a number of setbacks that somali
leaders have been facing
one of which is the election venues
because each country's five regional
states two election venues have been
designated for elections to take place
and
that does not apply in the regional
state of jubiland that is the one that
shares the border with neighboring kenya
federal authorities are of the view that
uh jubilant elections
will can only take place in kismayo and
gerba harry but is not under the control
of that regional state of uh jubilant
it's under the control of the somali
federal government and the regional
leader in that area
muhammad islam argues that unless
federal troops are pulled out
of the entire region then elections
cannot take place there so this is one
of the biggest setback
that has caused the election a delay and
it's the one that have made
the talks that were taking place over
and over again to collapse
last of friday so there's also another
setback that is the election
of lawmakers from somaliland region who
are supposed to the election supposed to
take place in mogadishu
but there's no mechanism in place yet
ready on how these elections will take
place
and there's also the issue with the
composition of the electoral commission
because regional states are arguing that
it is made up of the president's allies
and it might tilt the in favor of the
current president in terms of elections
okay in the meantime the opposition are
insisting that
the president step down and that a
transitional council be appointed
to leave the country until the election
is eventually held
is this likely to happen
well that is the opposition uh demands
uh
it issued an ultimatum saying that the
president will hand over power
to this transition on national council
it has not yet been formed
authorities and including the president
in his address recently
to parliament uh said that uh talks can
still take place between regional
and federal leaders he did not rule out
that uh talks cannot happen
opposition are skeptical saying that uh
the current president mohammed of the
life for major is an obstacle
to the implementation of the election
itself it says that it needs a
transitional national council
that will be headed by a group of
individuals
that include the speakers of the somali
parliament the somali senate
members of the opposition civil society
unless all these people are brought on
board
the opposition is adamant that if the
current president is left to coordinate
the election process
then elections might never happen that
is their biggest worry for now but
it's not clear whether this transitional
national council will even be formed
because
we're expecting our talks to continue in
the next
coming weeks according to authorities
right we know that president
uh muhammad abdullahi mohammed was
running for a second term
um what was his first term like and and
would he possibly have won
re-election with with major public
support
exactly as you've mentioned it the
current uh president in 2017 came
in uh amid a triumph amid
a happiness from the somali public who
are very eager for his presidency
because in 2011 he was ousted as prime
minister
and the country witnessed the mass
demonstration so many people were
yearning for his leadership but over the
years
things didn't turn out as the somali
public expected in terms of security for
instance
there were deadly al-shabaab attacks
that escalated time and again including
a deadly attack in september in october
rather 14 2017
that killed more than 600 people that is
the deadliest attack to ever take place
in somalia and it happened under his
watch but then again
in terms of economic reforms financial
progress the rebuilding of the somali
security
architecture all these are some of his
strong points and these
are some of the issues that he's going
to raise in his campaign
during the upcoming elections so many
people still
yes and young for his leadership say
that he deserves a second term
but then there's the biggest challenge
now right that
needs to be addressed that is the
election right that's abdulazid below
talking to us
from mogadishu thank you