Top politicians call for calm in Somalia’s South West state amid tension
Image of Farkeeti's residence after clashes
Top Somali politicians have urged calm in Somalia’s South West state following deadly clashes on Friday between regional state’s forces and security guards of regional presidential candidate Mohamed Aden Ibrahim aka Farkeeti.
In a joint statement on Friday, Somalia’s former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and three former prime ministers: Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, Hassan Ali Kheyre, and Abdiweli Ali Gaas, warned that any instability in South West will divert attention away from fighting Al-Shabaab terrorists.
“We call on authorities and politicians in South West state to give negotiations a chance to resolve their differences and to reach a consensus on the (regional state’s) elections,” the statement said.
The leaders also urged the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to play an active role in settling the dispute and to ensure timely elections.
Tensions have been soaring in Baidoa, the interim capital of South West state, since the regional parliament controversially voted to extend President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed (Laftagareen)’s term for another year which was initially scheduled to end on December 19, 2022.
Farkeeti, who formerly served as the finance minister for the FGS, is one of the leading critics calling for timely election.
On Friday, deadly clashes took place between regional security forces and pro-opposition forces guarding Farkeeti’s residence.
In remarks to VOA, the former minister accused regional security forces of storming his residence where his campaign activities were to be organized.
Somalia’s parliament speaker Adan Muhammad Nur (Madobe) denounced the clashes as attempts aimed at sabotaging reconciliation efforts that were scheduled to take place in the coming days.
For his part, Laftagareen said he regretted the deadly events and ordered an investigation to be carried out.
Laftagareen called for reconciliation and noted that the only war his administration seeks to fight is the one against Al-Shabaab terrorists.
