The US has called for an urgent resumption of talks between the Federal Government and Federal Member States (FMS) to address pressing national issues such as elections, debt relief and COVID-19 response.
“US embassy in Somalia calls on the Villa Somalia to convene a meeting with all FMS leaders, as required by the Somali Constitution. FGS–FMS engagement and cooperation is urgently needed to resolve political divisions, implementation of debt relief, & COVID response,” the US embassy in Somalia said in a tweet.
The call from one of Somalia’s largest donors comes amid lack of national consensus on particularly how the elections slated for later in the year will be conducted.
South West state president Abdiaziz Lafta Gareen said Tuesday the two levels of government had formed a joint committee to plan for the meeting.
The call also comes barely two weeks after the UN Security Council made a similar appeal urging President Mohamed Farmaajo to convene the National Security Council two years after a similar one in 2018.
“The Council calls on FGS and FMS to “Reinstitute regular meetings of the National Security Council or an alternative mechanism for engagement,” a resolution by the Council read in part.
The Upper House has also voiced the need for the Federal Government and Federal Member States to meet in addition to various stakeholders to chat the way forward for the elections.
Upper House speaker Abdi Hashi said in a statement Tuesday the FGS leadership should meet with the regional governments before June 25 noting he will be leading a House committee to oversee preparations for the meeting.
