The U.N. Security Council has called on Somalia’s leaders to meet as soon as possible to break the stalemate delaying elections that had been scheduled for Feb. 8.
In a press statement after a closed briefing by U.N. special envoy James Swan, the council said that inclusive elections should take place “as soon as possible” in the interest of all Somalis.
This was the second appeal this month by the U.N. Security Council which is calling for the parties to resolve outstanding issues on the basis of an agreement reached last Sept. 17.
Pressure has mounted on Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed since the February elections failed to take place because of the lack of agreement on how the vote should be carried out.
The president has blamed unnamed foreign interventions but Critics have accused Mohamed, who is seeking a second four-year term, of delaying the election to extend his current mandate.
Issues of contention in the election process include the formation of the Electoral management commission, selection of commission members for the breakaway region of Somaliland, and the crisis in the Somalia-Kenya border region of Gedo.
On March 12, the council urged the federal government and regional states to organize free, fair, credible and inclusive elections in accordance with the September agreement without delay.
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