8″ April “2021” MOGADISHU
The Council of Presidential Candidates is deeply concerned about former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s attempts to derail the conference on Somalia’s elections attended by leaders of the federal government and federal member states.
It is becoming clear to the Council and to the Somali people that the former president is working to undermine efforts to hold an inclusive and peaceful election in the country with the aim of extending his term of office, which is unconstitutional and a threat to the country’s stability The following steps Farmajo took are proof enough that he is working to undermine the electoral process:- 1- On 6 February 2021, he walked out of the Dusamareb 4 conference, in which the leaders of the federal government and federal member states were discussing election issues. On the same day, he attempted to have the parliament extend his term of office, but was opposed by legislators who were against the trampling of the constitution.
2- On the night of 18-19 February, ahead of a planned conference on election issues, he ordered an attack against two of his predecessors as well as the former Speaker of parliament.
The following morning, he ordered another attack on a peaceful demonstration led by members of the Council of Presidential Candidates, members of parliament and ministers.
3- He ordered that the security responsibility for the Aden Abdulle International Airport be transferred from the Custom Police to the Harma’ad forces, who are known for carrying out attacks against politicians and opposition members, to endanger the safety of the presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland as well as their delegations, and to prevent them from holding meetings with politicians, members of parliaments and other sectors of the community.
4- He interfered with preliminary meetings between the leaders of the country’s five federal member states as they tried to agree on the agenda of the conference on the elections, as well as efforts by the international community to bring together the caretaker prime minister and presidents of the federal member states. 2
5- On 27 March, while presidents of the five federal member states were meeting, he made a deal with the Speaker of the House of the People which would have seen his term of office extended by two years.
This attempt was foiled by parliament members who are opposed to an unconstitutional term extension.
6- He prevented 15 members of parliament who opposed the term extension deal from attending further House meetings. He also ordered the pictures of the said members of parliament to be submitted at security checkpoints in Mogadishu and directed security forces to harm them if they insist on attending the meetings.
7- His objective was to derail the conference between the federal government and federal member state leaders, with his information minister, in a message recorded a few days ago, blaming the leaders of Puntland and Jubbaland for the failure of the talks. The Council commends the presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland for the fortitude they had shown in staying in Mogadishu for a month, who are still ready to continue the talks in search of an inclusive and peaceful election, despite the fact that the former president has declared that the conference has collapsed.
The Council hereby calls on the former president to return to the conference to ensure the holding of free and fair elections in the country.
The Council would also like to point out to the Somali people and the international community that the former president is responsible if the talks fail and should be held accountable.
Finally, the council commends the international community’s efforts towards the holding of free and fair elections in Somalia and urges them to play their role in ensuring that goal is reached.
