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Somalia’s Farmajo calls for elections to calm the tension
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MOGADISHU, 28 April, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed called for elections and a return to dialogue after the extension of his mandate by two years sparked the country's worst political violence in years.
Around 1:00 am local time (2200 GMT), the president addressed the nation at around 1:00 am local time (2200 GMT) after hours of anticipation, with Mogadishu on a knife's edge as government troops and pro-opposition soldiers beefed up their positions and civilians fled their homes.
On Sunday, the rival sides exchanged gunfire in an eruption of long-simmering tensions sparked by the delay of February elections and Farmajo's extension of his mandate earlier this month.
However, tensions have been rising in Somalia since Farmajo's four-year term lapsed in February, as he and leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, two of Somalia's five semi-autonomous states, failed to agree on how to conduct elections.
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