The regional leader gives a 15-day ultimatum to government forces to withdraw from the strategic town of Ras Kamboni
Nov 29. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The authorities of the Somali region of Jubaland have officially announced the “suspension” of relations with the federal government due to tensions arising from the recently held elections in the territory, the legality of which has not been recognized by Mogadishu, which has led even to the outbreak of sporadic armed clashes.
“The government of Jubaland officially and completely suspends relations and cooperation with the federal government of Somalia,” the regional Parliament said in a statement published on its account on the social network Facebook, before adding that “it does not recognizes” the laws approved to reintroduce universal suffrage in the country.
Thus, he said that he rejects the amendments to the Constitution and the electoral laws recently approved by Parliament and has noted that the regional authorities “have the constitutional obligation to protect and preserve the unity of the population of Jubaland.”
For this reason, he has called for a round of talks with “all political actors” in Jubaland and has called for “peace and unity”, while accusing the central authorities of “carrying out a clear coup d’état”. against the Magna Carta with its reforms, which deal a blow to “the pillars of the Republic of Somalia.”
The Jubaland authorities have directly accused the president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, of “violating the Constitution, abuse of power and dismantling and dividing the Army”, as well as “corruption, looting and fomenting civil war and conflicts between clans”, amid the battery of accusations between the parties.
Along these lines, the president of Jubaland, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, known as Ahmed Madobe, has called on government forces to withdraw within 15 days from the town of Ras Kamboni, a city of strategic importance located near the border. with Kenya, according to the Somali news portal Garowe Online.
JUBALAND ULTIMATE
Madobe has warned in his ultimatum to take “firm military action” if the troops do not leave the area and has added that the central authorities will “pay the price” for their military presence in the area, after recent clashes between government forces and Jubaland security forces in Ras Kamboni.
Bilateral tensions were materialized on Wednesday with the decision of a Somali court to issue an arrest warrant against Madobe for “treason”, responded by regional authorities with a similar order against Mohamud, whom it also accused of “conspiring” with the terrorist group Al Shabaab, linked to Al Qaeda.
The confrontation derives from Jubaland’s decision to go ahead with the presidential elections, in which Madobe won a third term, provoking the rejection of the Government of Somalia, which affirmed that they were invalid, arguing that the entire procedure, including The appointment of the Jubaland electoral commission was carried out “outside the legal framework” of Somalia.
The current Somali president has promoted a modification of the legislation that reintroduces universal suffrage, one of his main promises during the electoral campaign. The country’s main political leaders – with the rejection of Jubaland and Puntland – reached an agreement in October setting a framework for the aforementioned reintroduction of universal suffrage.
Thus, the Somali Parliament has approved legal modifications in recent weeks to promote this process, including the appointment of an electoral commission, headed by Amina Sheikh Osman Mohamed, as reported by the Somali state news agency, SONNA. .
No elections have been held in Somalia with the ‘one person, one vote’ system since 1969, when Siad Barre took power after a coup d’état. Currently, the country has an indirect system in which clans and regional parliaments elect their representatives to the federal Parliament, which, in turn, is responsible for electing the president.
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