Farmaajo-Yasin scheme threatens to ignite Somalia

Somalia is paying the price for Fahad Yasin, director of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and Qatar’s man in the country, to ignite tribal conflicts and support extremist groups, chiefly Al-Shabaab, which has hidden ties with Yasin, a former Al-Jazeera correspondent and the man in control of affairs in the palace of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo.
During the past few days, conflict has flared up in the
capital, Mogadishu, as a result of the efforts of Farmaajo and Yasin to impose
a fait accompli policy and keep Farmaajo in power following the end of his
term. Somali general elections were scheduled to be held on February 8 but were
postponed in efforts to reshuffle the cards in Somalia, which has fragile
political stability and has suffered from the ravages of conflict following the
collapse of the regime of President Siad Barre in 1990.
By destabilizing Mogadishu, Farmaajo seeks to force the
Somali parliament to issue a resolution allowing him to remain in office until
his successor is chosen, but the opposition says he is now in the position
illegally.
The Somali opposition sees the “procrastination in the
elections” as a plot by Yasin to keep the Somali state under his authority and
in the hands of the Brotherhood. Therefore, the opposition called to protest
against the failure of the Farmaajo government to hold the elections on time.
Former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
lead the opposition and emphasize that the general and presidential elections
will be held on time in order to keep Somalia from further division,
deterioration and backwardness.
On February 1, the Dhusamareb summit between Farmaajo and
Somali state leaders failed to produce a vision for the elections, which
deepened the political crisis and led to the return of conflict in Somalia,
especially Mogadishu.
Farmaajo tried to evade his responsibility, throwing the
ball at the stadium of the regional states opposing his agenda, at a time when
most signs indicate that the man is maneuvering to extend his presidential
term.
For its part, the opposition Council of Presidential
Candidates described Farmaajo as a criminal and threatened to continue
demonstrations calling for elections in the country.
The council indicated that it believes Farmaajo has no right
to participate in the efforts made to resolve disputes in the elections and
called for him to be prevented from participating in the upcoming elections in
accordance with what is stipulated in the transitional federal constitution.
The council added in a statement that it became clear that
Farmaajo does not want security and stability for the country, does not wish to
hold elections, and that he believes in adhering to power by force and staying
in power illegally.
The statement pointed out that Farmaajo and all those who
support him will be judged for their violations of the law and their harm to
the dignity, honor and freedom of Somali citizens.
The statement accused the outgoing government of launching
an attack on peaceful demonstrators on Friday, noting that Farmaajo bears
responsibility for attacking the demonstrators, describing the use of national forces
to suppress the people as a heinous crime and abuse of power.
Media reports indicate that Farmaajo is adopting a plan of
"procrastination" and "shuffling the cards" with regard to
the local elections and the end of his term, threatening to escalate the
situation in Somalia, which is exhausted by internal conflicts and the growing
capabilities of Al-Shabaab, as well as the presence of ISIS.
Reports also indicate that some of the federal states of
Somalia are concerned about Farmaajo, who is close to Qatar and Turkey, and the
Brotherhood remaining in power, in addition to terrorist groups freely targeting
the Somali people.
General elections represent a major issue, and disrupting
them threatens Somalia. Therefore, it is necessary for the various parties at
home and the influential international bodies to agree on organizing electiong.
Most important, however, is the need to rethink donor efforts to stabilize
Somalia. It is necessary to extend the presence of the African Union mission
once again beyond the timeframe set in December 2021. But this also requires
more meaningful action on the part of AMISOM, and efforts to build federal
forces and Somali state institutions must be accompanied by meaningful
accountability measures and deep and effective structural changes.