MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Two days after the violence related to the delay in elections in Somalia, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused “external forces” of contributing to the problems.
At least five soldiers were killed and more than a dozen people, mostly civilians, were injured on Friday in violent protests against the postponement of elections in the country.
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is under pressure because the elections would be held on February 8, but no vote took place on that date because there was no agreement on how the ballot boxes should be conducted in the Horn of Africa country. Some Somalis demand that the president step down.
The Foreign Ministry blamed a foreign country for making “misinformed and misleading statements that disregard the facts and sometimes appear to be supporting the insurrection,” in a statement released on Sunday.
Although no specific country was named, it was clear that the statement referred to the United Arab Emirates, which had previously criticized the violence.
“The United Arab Emirates expressed their great concern about the deteriorating situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as a result of continued violence and excessive use of force against civilians,” said the United Arab Emirates statement released Saturday. The UAE statement, notably, referred to the Somali government as “provisional”.
Somalia’s information minister, Osman Dubbe, responded angrily to the UAE statement, saying it was provocative. He said the UAE should apologize.
At a news conference on Sunday, Dubbe claimed that some Somali officials had flown to the United Arab Emirates, after which they raised preconditions for elections in Somalia, which contributed to the delay in the polls.
Relations between the United Arab Emirates and Somalia have deteriorated since DP World, a company in the United Arab Emirates, signed separate agreements with the regional administrations of Somaliland and Puntland, without the consent of the federal government of Somalia. In these agreements, DP World agreed to help develop the region’s seaports. The federal government of Somalia does not recognize Somaliland’s claim to independence, although Puntland is a federal member state, so the federal government does not like foreign countries making deals with those territories.
The objective of direct elections with one person and one vote in Somalia remains elusive. It was due to take place this month, but the federal government and states have agreed to another “indirect election”, in which senators and members of parliament are elected by community leaders – delegates from powerful clans – in each member state. Members of parliament and senators then elect the president of Somalia.
An alliance of opposition leaders, along with civil society groups, objected, arguing that this leaves them no voice in their own country’s politics. And the regional states of Jubbaland and Puntland refused to participate.