Somalia’s President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called for elections and a return to dialogue early Wednesday in a national address.
The president, popularly called Farmajo, addressed the nation at around 1:00 am local time (22:00 GMT) after hours of anticipation.
Recall that the extension of his mandate by two years plunged the country into its worst political violence in years.
Mogadishu has been on a knife’s edge as government troops and pro-opposition soldiers beefed up their positions and civilians fled their homes.
The rival sides exchanged gunfire on Sunday in an eruption of long-simmering tensions sparked by the delay of February elections and Farmajo’s extension of his mandate earlier this month.
Tensions have been rising in Somalia since Farmajo’s four-year term lapsed in February, as he and leaders of Puntland and Jubaland, two of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous states, failed to agree on how to conduct elections.
A deal had been cobbled together in September, which later collapsed, and multiple rounds of UN-backed talks failed to broker a way forward.
The international community repeatedly called for elections to go ahead, threatening sanctions.
The president said he would appear before parliament on Saturday to “gain their endorsement for the electoral process”, calling on political actors to hold “urgent discussions” on how to conduct the vote.
“As we have repeatedly stated, we have always been ready to implement timely and peaceful elections in the country,” he said.
“I hereby call upon all of the signatories of the 17 September agreement to come together immediately for urgent discussions on the unconditional implementation of the above-mentioned agreement,” said Farmajo.
