The moderate Islamist group Alhu Sunna Waal Jamaa will get 20 seats in the new Galmudug parliament, a new deal with the Federal Government reveals.
The agreement signed by Alhu Sunna’s Mohamed Shakir and Interior Minister Abdi Sabriye comes ahead of the expected parliamentary elections which were scheduled to begin this week.
Under the deal, Galmudug parliament will now fully incorporate Alhu Sunna which had until December last year been opposed to Galmudug state and held control of the capital Dhusamareeb.
A deal brokered by the regional bloc IGAD to end the disputes resulted in an arrangement that saw Galmudug parliament expanded to 200 MPs. However continuous squabbles did not yield a lasting solution.
It therefore means Alhu Sunna will control a quarter of the parliament which is made up of 89 MPs according to the state constitution.
Alhu Sunna leader Shakir immediately released a statement publicly endorsing the agreement.
“We compromised for the interest of Galmudug,” the statement read in part. He thanked the Federal Government for the reconciliation process in Galmudug and the international community for ‘facilitating the process’.
The deal will only be valid for the life of the next parliament which lapses after four years. Galmudug is expected to hold parliamentary and presidential elections this month but there are already unmet timelines.
