Somali PM Roble in Baidoa for celebration as election faces trouble

BAIDOA, Somalia - Mohamed Hussein Roble, the Prime Minister of Somalia, on Saturday reached Baidoa, the interim administrative capital of Southwest as he seeks a solution to the electoral exercise, which seems to be facing transparency challenges.

Roble attends the third anniversary of the election win of Lafta-Gareen, who was elected in 2018 following a controversial election in Baidoa that led to the death of dozens of civilians shot dead by police during a street protest against Mukhtar Robow, a regional presidential candidate.

Lafta-Gareen, a close ally of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, won the election after the disqualification of former Al-Shabaab deputy leader and spokesman Mukhtar Robow, who is now under NISA house arrest in Mogadishu for three years.

His trip to Southwest comes amid uproar from the opposition, which has vowed to oppose the elections currently being done across the country. The opposition has accused the government of massive rigging and voter fraud.

State media said Roble and Lafta-Gareen discussed how to regain confidence in the exercise which has already kicked off in the Southwest. The country is supposed to select 275 who will jointly with senators-elect the president of the federal republic of Somalia.

The meeting will be the second this week following a virtual one Friday night. It comes in the wake of a move by the opposition to pursue a new political path as the two sides have failed to agree on common ground regarding the elections.

In a lengthy statement, the opposition vowed to push for a new political path, something which would injure the ongoing elections in the country. Farmaajo is accused of stage-managing the exercise in favour of his close allies.

The PM has stood ground against halting the elections as proposed by the Council of Presidential Candidates. Weighed down by the lengthy process, Roble is seen as desiring to conclude the process notwithstanding concerns raised by the opposition and some clans.

On its part, the CPC, which is losing ground to outgoing President Mohamed Farmaajo as far as the election of MPs is keen on pushing for a fairer if not negotiated ground that could enable it to secure some seats in the Federal Parliament.

Sources intimate that the Union of Presidential Candidates has already set the security and technical committee which will look at the election disputes before coming up with the dates for the national conference.

It's believed that Roble is set to partner with Lafta-Gareen, who will in return push for support from federal member states to counter any move which could be made by the Union of Presidential Candidates in the coming weeks over elections.

GAROWE ONLINE