The African Union (AU) chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said he is deeply concerned at the deteriorating security and political situation in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, reported CGTN Africa.
In a statement, the AU chief condemned all forms of violence and called on Somali stakeholders to refrain from acts that might jeopardize peace and security in the country. He urged political actors to avoid narrow partisan political interests and seek a consensual solution that will break the current political stalemate.
“The AU urges the Somalia leadership and the entire Somalia political class to act in the interest of Somalia as a whole, rather than narrow partisan political interests,” Mahamat said in a statement.
He added that the people of Somalia have suffered for too long, and the current violence poses a serious threat to the ongoing Somali transition plan.
The AU chief’s statement comes a day after Somali government troops exchanged gunfire with opposition supporters in Mogadishu in street clashes that erupted during a protest march over delayed elections.
There were clashes near Somalia’s presidential palace in Mogadishu earlier on Friday. As per reports, the fighting near the presidential palace killed at least four people, including soldiers, and wounded three others.
Somalia was supposed to hold indirect elections before February 8, but the central government and federal states could not agree on a plan over how to proceed with a vote. The opposition accused President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who is seeking a second term, of packing regional and national electoral boards with supporters.
Mahamat stressed the need for holding free, fair, timely, and credible elections in the country, along the lines of the 17th September Agreement. He called on all the relevant Somali stakeholders to refrain from undertaking unilateral measures that might further deepen the current political crisis and undermine efforts to effectively confront and degrade Al Shabaab and other terrorist groups.
