Hiiraan Online
Monday September 17, 2018
Mogadishu (HOL) - The Governor of Benadir and the Mayor of Mogadishu, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Eng. Yarisow) urged Somalia's regional leaders to work with the federal government and President Farmajo.
The former minister of information said that it's important that the leaders of Somalia's federal member states resolve their concerns with the federal government without the use of a third-party mediator. Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire echoed similar sentiments on Sunday when he forcefully rejected suggestions that Somalia's capital was unsafe for Somali leaders to convene and dismissed calls for outside mediation.
"I call on my colleagues from the National Security Council take on the call of the President, and work to resolve this issue" Eng. Yarisow said.
He thanked the president for the scheduling the conference and asked the leaders to work together to forge a lasting solution to all the issues of mutual interest.
The mayor's comments come ahead of the climacteric National Security Council meeting which is scheduled to begin on Monday to open in Mogadishu and will continue through Tuesday. It is still unclear whether some or all the regional leaders will attend.
Earlier this month, the leaders of five regional states in Somalia β Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas (Puntland), Ahmed Duale Gelle (Galmudug), Mohamed Abdi Ware (Hirshabelle), Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden (South West State) and Sheikh Ahmed Madobe of Jubbaland β suspended cooperation with Mogadishu over grievances about security, national resource sharing and perceived interference by the federal government in local and regional affairs.
βThe Council expresses its concerns the deepening political crisis and growing differences among the major stakeholders of Somalia. The interference in the internal affairs of the federal member states clearly undermine the constitutionally mandated separations of powers,β they said in a statement.
The outgoing UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Somalia, Michael Keating said that it was "unfortunate", adding that lack of trust among Somali leaders is paralyzing the country at a time when the provisional federal constitution - which would divide powers between the federal and regional governments - is under review.