The United States (US) government on Monday made an appeal to Somalia’s president and prime minister to resolve their differences for the sake of the stability of the country, reported The BBC.
In a statement, the US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the cooperation between Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Prime Minister Hussein Roble was essential for the country to “quickly complete its ongoing electoral process”.
It said that the dispute between President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Roble, sparked by the government’s handling of a missing spy’s case, is complicating the country’s electoral process and it needs to be resolved immediately and peacefully.
Somalia is scheduled to hold indirect parliamentary elections between October 1 and November 25. It is feared that due to the dispute between the two leaders, Somalia’s electoral process could suffer further setbacks.
The tiff between the two escalated last week after the president suspended the executive powers of Mr. Roble, a move swiftly rejected by the premier as unlawful.
“We call on the President and the Prime Minister to avoid further provocative statements or actions and to resolve their disagreement over personnel appointments and their respective authorities peacefully,” the US statement said.
The US government said that any further postponement of elections may increase the potential for violence in the Horn of Africa nation and play into the hands of Al-Shabab and other extremist groups seeking to destabilize the country.
On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) also urged Somalia’s feuding government leaders to resolve the issue through dialogue and give top priority to holding long-delayed national elections this year.
In a statement, the 15-member body called on the federal government and regional states “to ensure that any political differences do not divert from united action against al-Shabab and other militant groups”.
The Al-Shabaab militant group, whose insurgency was unleashed on Somalia in 2007, controls large rural areas and regularly carries out attacks in the capital.
