Somalia on edge after failure of political talks with opposition
Political talks between the Somali government and the opposition have faltered, bringing political tensions back to Somali capital Mogadishu.
This
has opened the door for security unrest, something that is expected to become
worse in the future if parties to the political conflict in the country fail to
reach an agreement soon. This will surely threaten Somalia's political future.
Failure
of talks
The
third round of talks between the interim government and a coalition of
presidential hopefuls ended on a note of failure.
This
came after seven hours of continual talks between the two sides.
The
two parties met on 4 March to discuss pending political issues, especially the
aspired elections and the candidates 'role in organizing and conducting them.
Nevertheless,
the talks produced no results.
The
coalition said at a press briefing following the failure of the talks that it
had offered concessions to the government.
Coalition
member Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Shakur said the coalition offered the concessions
reach understandings on disputed issues.
He
expressed dissatisfaction with the Somali prime minister's failure to exercise
his constitutional powers in taking fateful decisions.
The
prime minister, he said, is only good at accusing external parties of fanning
the crisis in Somalia, especially when he is required to take important
decisions.
Prime
Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble conceded that the talks came to an end without
achieving tangible results.
Useless
concessions
Roble
wrote on Twitter that the government offered concessions too.
He
noted that the members of the coalition of presidential hopefuls had asked to
be part of a conference that would be held by the federal government and the
heads of Somali states.
Nevertheless,
this would require the introduction of amendments to the 17 September agreement
with the opposition, the Somali prime minister said.
"This
is not within the boundaries of my mandate or constitutional prerogative,"
he added.
