The Presidents of Puntland, Galmudug, Hir-Shabelle, South West and Jubbaland regional states have yesterday met for several hours in Mogadishu to discuss issues related to the Somali poll dispute.
The presidents of Galmudug, Hir-Shabelle and Southwest have on several occassions been trying to persuade the presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland to attend the meeting of the heads of state and government to sign and finalize the election agreement.
Reports from yesterday’s heads of regional states meeting said that the presidents of the three state have persuaded the Jubbaland and Puntland state heads to attend the general meeting scheduled to take place on Tuesday to discuss issues relating to the poll dispute and thrash out the contentious issues.
Meanwhile, the presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland regional states have demanded that members of the Union of Presidential Candidates and Speaker of the Upper House be persuaded, prompting the Union of Candidates to join the regional leaders meeting.
Today, regional state leaders are expected to meet with the Speaker of the Upper House, Abdi Hashi Abdillahi, while the presidents of Jubbaland and Puntland states will meet with the caretaker Prime Minister of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble.
Somalia’s elections have not yet been formally agreed upon and the international community is still working to bring the country’s political stakeholders together for an inclusive and dispute free Somali elections.
BY OSMAN HUSSEIN ALI
