By Suleiman Sabdow
Somalia presidential elections that were slated to take place on October 10th of this year is likely to be postponed for an unspecified date which could spark off another political tussle among the top political brass in the country.
According to Ibrahim Mohamed Moualimu, the spokesperson of the federal government of Somalia the rescheduling of the poll was occasioned by referendum, and that the elections could be pushed further in a tet to be announced date.
“Everyone sees there will be a delay in the presidential elections,” federal government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim said on Tuesday. “The specified date will not be met.”
The initial postponement of the presidential elections triggered violence which led to sections of the military and other security forces troop to Mogadishu and erect roadblocks forcing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo to concede ground and relinquish some of his powers and subsequently hand over to prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.
The political standoff between President Farmajo and Prime Minister Roble has been brewing since the disappearance and killing of Ikran Tahlil Farah, a female spy agent working with the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) which the agency later claimed was killed by Al-Shabaab militants.
However, in a quick rejoinder Al- Shabaab denied the claims saying and accusing the intelligence agency of blackmailing them for killing they did not execute.
Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble sacked the then intelligence agency boss Fahad Yassin after he failed to submit a comprehensive report regarding the abduction of the female spy agent a decision that was however protested by president Mohamed Farmajo urging Fahad to continue discharging his duties.
The president later in a statement posted on Villa Somalia stated that he had accepted the resignation of Fahad Yassin as the NISA chief and appointed him as his National Security Advisor.
Fahad later last month took over the mantle from Abdisaid Muse Ali who was appointed as the Chief of Staff in a brief ceremony held at Villa Somalia barely days after being denied entry into the country allegedly by top Somalia government officials and detained in Djibouti by authorities in Djibouti.
Concerted efforts spearheaded by Galmudug president Ahmed Abdi Qoorqoor to bring together president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble hit a dead end after talks fizzled out at the eleventh hour.
Some quarters in the Somali government accused president Farmajo of scuttling efforts to end the stand-off between him and PM Roble however president Farmajo denied the accusations of brinkmanship.
The international community has been calling on the top leaders in the Horn of Africa country to reconcile and refrain from unhelpful exchanges and personal announcements that could further hamper and escalate the already fragile security situation on the ground and expedite the protracted elections and the fight against Al-Shabaab insurgency.
