Somalia leaders fail to reach deal on elections

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA—A meeting on Somalia’s troubled election has ended in failure as the federal government and regional states could not reach agreement on remaining issues two days before the scheduled vote, and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Saturday blamed unnamed “foreign interventions.” Lawmakers in parliament booed the president, pounding their desktops, as he addressed them after days of discussions fizzled. He accused Puntland and Jubbaland states of refusing to support an agreement last September on the electoral process.

“I’ve made every effort,” said the president, who seeks a second four-year term. “Don’t make us feel ashamed before the international community, and don’t discourage our people.”

He added: “There’s still some hope that we can move forward, we just need to set another time for a meeting to solve our problems, and all these issues rest on the shoulders of parliament.”

But the president’s critics accuse him of delaying to extend his current mandate. The September agreement allows for the president and others to stay in office after Monday’s election date if needed, but United Nations special representative James Swan has warned that going beyond that day brings

“an unpredictable political situation in a country where we certainly don’t need any more of that.”

The uncertainty is ripe for exploitation by the Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group, which has threatened to attack the polls and even launched a documentary series on Friday criticizing the president and the electoral process, which it accused of being riddled with corruption.