Tuesday January 19, 2021
MOGADISHU (HOL) - The UN Security Council should ‘exert maximum pressure’ on President Mohamed Farmaajo and Federal Member State leaders to bring them to the table over the ongoing electoral crisis, a Mogadishu based think-tank has said.
Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS) said in a report that the UN Security Council must pressure the leaders of the two levels of government to resolve the current stalemate, which has seen the elections postponed three times.
“Under the leadership of the US, the UK, Turkey and the EU, and within the framework of the UN Security Council, the international community should exert maximum pressure on the FGS and FMS leaders to meet in the coming days and return from the brink,” HIPS said.
Noting that the country was on the brink of a civil war should elections fail to occur, HIPS said the UN office in Somalia should take the lead role in pushing for a negotiated settlement.
The brief recommended that the opposition alongside Jubbaland and Puntland should submit names that ought to be expunged from the federal elections committee FIET to the UN head in the country James Swan ‘so that he can work with the FGS to replace the disputed members in compliance with the 17 September agreement.’
HIPS also proposed that the UN conducts elections in Gedo and Hiiraan regions. The stakeholders should also delay elections in these two regions for about a month, the Mogadishu based think-tank said.