Turkey welcomes Somalia’s compromise on elections

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey welcomed Thursday Somalia’s success in reaching a compromise on holding elections and signing an agreement on the matter.

“We welcome the conclusion of the negotiations led by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble on the Somali election process with a compromise and the agreement signed today,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“On this occasion, we reiterate our belief that the friendly and fraternal Somali people have the will and political maturity to determine their own future, appreciate the commonsense attitudes of Somali political leaders and hope that the election process will be completed as soon as possible,” it added.

Following four days of negotiations in the capital, Mogadishu, Prime Minister Roble, five regional leaders and the mayor of Mogadishu signed an election agreement.

In a statement, the leaders announced that they had resolved the contentious issues surrounding the delayed elections.

Somalia has witnessed a political stalemate after presidential and parliamentary elections were delayed and the president's constitutional mandate expired on Feb. 8.

An agreement between the central government and regional leaders in the town of Dhusamareb on Sept. 17 last year was seen as a major step towards Somalia holding indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2020 and early 2021, respectively.

It had since stalled as the country's divided political leaders differed on how to proceed with the elections.