Press Release Response to Office of the President’s 26 December 2021 statement on the ongoing national elections
Date: 26 December 2021
The Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble, is disappointed with the 26 December 2021 statement from the Office of the President on the ongoing national elections.
The statement from the President was intentionally meant to disrupt the ongoing national elections which are currently underway across the country.
Considering the timing of the statement from the Office of the President, which came after the Prime Minister had announced an upcoming National Consultative Council meeting to accelerate the elections and enhance the transparency and credibility of the electoral process, it is, unfortunately, clear that the President is hell-bent on disrupting the forthcoming consultative forum; a move which is indicative of the President’s unchanged yearning to further protract the ongoing national elections for personal interest.
During his tenure in office, the President, regrettably, invested so much time, energy and finances in frustrating the national elections and seeking illegal term extension, adversely affecting the ongoing efforts to expedite the national elections and enable the country to hold peaceful elections.
Since the Prime Minister’s assumption of the elections’ management role, the President proved to be an obstacle to the implementation of the agreed upon election guidelines, and has employed persistent various tactics – one after the other – with a view to derailing the electoral process.
However, Prime Minister Roble is committed to leading the national elections to ensure that the process is free, fair and inclusive for all Somalis, especially the Presidential Candidates, and it will not be acceptable to allow a particular presidential candidate to exploit the process in his favour.
We, therefore, reaffirm to the Somali public that the Prime Minister, along with the National Consultative Forum, will continue to guide the elections and the scheduled NCC meeting will take place in Mogadishu as planned.
The Prime Minister is tirelessly engaged in consultative discussions with the civil society groups, the presidential candidates and the international community to listen to their recommendations over the transparency of the elections and finalisation of the House of the People elections, and all proposals will be deliberated on the upcoming NCC gathering.
The Prime Minister reminds the Somali public and the international community that it is time to collectively thwart any attempts aimed at jeopardising peace and institution-building in Somalia. Executing his constitutional obligations as stipulated in the provisional federal constitution and recognising the political agreements that tasked him with the leadership of the elections and the country’s security, the Prime Minister assures the Somali public that he, in collaboration with the NCC, will sustain efforts to finalise the elections while preserving the process’ credibility with broad consensus. The only way out of the current challenges is to join hands, accelerate the ongoing national elections, and lead the country to a peaceful power transition.
