MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Two days after violence related to Somalia’s delayed election, the country’s foreign ministry accused ‘external forces’ of contributing to the problems.
At least five soldiers were killed and more than a dozen people, mostly civilians, were injured in violent protests over the country’s delayed election on Friday.
The President of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, is under pressure because elections were to be held on February 8, but on that date no vote was taken because there was no agreement on how the ballot boxes should take place in the Horn of Africa. Some Somalis are demanding that the president resign.
The Foreign Ministry blamed a foreign country for “making misinformed and misleading statements that disregard the facts and sometimes try to support insurgency”, in a statement issued on Sunday.
Although no specific country was named, it was clear that the statement referred to the United Arab Emirates which had earlier criticized the violence.
“The United Arab Emirates has expressed its grave concern over the deteriorating situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, due to ongoing violence and the excessive use of force against civilians,” the UAE statement issued on Saturday. The UAE declaration referred in particular to the Government of Somalia as an ‘interim’.
Somali Information Minister Osman Dubbe reacted angrily to the UAE statement, saying it was challenging. He said the UAE should apologize.
Dubbe claimed during a press conference on Sunday that some Somali officials had flown to the UAE, after which they increased the conditions for the election in Somalia which contributed to the delay in the polls.
Relations between the UAE and Somalia have deteriorated since DP World, a UAE company, signed separate agreements with the Somali regional administrations of Somaliland and Puntland without the consent of Somalia’s federal government. In these agreements, DP World has agreed to help develop the sea’s ports. The federal government of Somalia does not recognize Somaliland’s claim of independence while Puntland is a federal member state, and therefore the federal government does not like foreign countries concluding agreements with those territories.
The purpose of direct elections for one-on-one voting in Somalia remains elusive. It would take place this month, but the federal government and states have agreed on another ‘indirect election’, in which senators and members of parliament are elected by community leaders – delegates of powerful generations – in each Member State. The parliamentarians and senators then elect Somalia’s president.
An alliance of opposition leaders, along with the civil society groups, objected, arguing that it had no say in the politics of their own country. And the regional states of Jubbaland and Puntland refused to participate.