Somalia opposition leader urges Gov’t to sit down with candidates

By: staff Writer

Former President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has asked Somalia’s federal government to agree to dialogue and iron out contentious issues.

At a press conference in his residence in his return from a working trip, Mr Ahmed who is also Chairman of the Union of Presidential Candidates warned the current situation in the country is unstable and could worsen “if wisdom doesn’t prevail.”

“What you can get from dialogue cannot be found in a war. War is not good,” he said on Friday in Mogadishu.
The government must open its doors, and mind to dialogue, he said.

“Everyone in power will be out one day, and when it comes to that time to transfer power, peace and honor will be needed.” Ahmed was speaking on the latest impasse over electoral teams.

Supporters of the the Union have this week been protesting the refusal by the government to reopen negotiations on who Shou be in the key electoral officiating teams.
In stead, authorities deployed special forces trained by Turkey to harass some of the Union candidates and their supporters.

Somalia has missed most of the deadlines in the electoral calendar. It was supposed to hold elections for Senators and Lower House members by end of December.

That now looks unlikely as the bone of contention; membership of the electoral commission, dispute resolution commission as well as the polling commission for Somaliland, remains unresolved.