Hiiraan Online
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
allegations as baseless information that is far from truth.
The enraged speaker, who categorically took issue with reports that he is making efforts to falter the
Mogadishu meeting and change the venue, said instead that he supports the conference that will
address Somalia’s predicament.
“Those are mere rumors. We view the upcoming Mogadishu meeting as one where Somalis will discuss
their issues, and one that concludes the outcome of the previous two meetings in Nairobi” Speaker
Hassan told the Somali service of Voice of America.
“The delegates who attended the previous meeting will also be attending the Mogadishu meeting”
The speaker however proposed that the conference should address pertinent issues including peace
building as well as the controversial issue of the term of the fragile authority.
He hinted that the TFG expects to send a unified delegation to the conference that brings together a
cross section of Somali political players, including officials from regional authorities as well as opposition
insurgency groups.
He however reiterated that the current political environment in the country will not allow free and fair
elections, saying the best option as of now is to maintain the current lot of parliamentarians who can in
turn elect a new president.
Speaker Hassan is engaged in a long standing disagreement with president Sharif concerning the
speaker’s controversial extension of the term of the interim parliament. On February the speaker
endorsed parliament’s extension mandate of three years while the president rejected.
Controversy derailed peace efforts in the beleaguered federal authority that has failed to put in place
mechanism for free and fair elections as well as drafting a new constitution for the Horn of Africa nation
which has known no law and order since the ouster of Siad Barre in the uprising of 1991.