Somali President Challenged in His Bid to Secure New Term

Somalia's president, whose four-year term expired this month, should not take part in talks aimed at resolving a dispute that has caused a delay in choosing a new head of state, two of Somalia's five regional governments said on Sunday.
Parliament
had been due to make a choice on Feb. 8, but this was delayed because new
lawmakers have yet to be picked while opponents of President Mohamed Abdullahi
Mohamed, who is seeking a second term, accuse him of packing his supporters
into the regional and national boards who choose the legislators.
The
delay has stoked tensions in the Horn of Africa nation that was ripped apart by
civil war and which is still battling an insurgency by al Shabaab, an Islamist
group that frequently launches attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
The
government of Jubbaland, one of Somalia's five regions, said the president's
term had expired and he should be excluded from any talks on the dispute.
"He should not have a role in the
process of election in order for all political stakeholders to have confidence
in it," Jubbaland's state house said in a statement.
A
second state, Puntland shared similar sentiments.
"We are not going to a conference with
Farmajo..." its president Said Abdulahi Deni said in a televised speech.
The
constitution allows the head of state to continue in post until a new president
is picked, if parliament approves. But experts say the president, by staying
on, risks upsetting the delicate power balance between rival clans and regions
that is at the heart of the nation's political reconstruction effort.
The
central government spokesman did not immediately respond to calls or emails
seeking comment.
The
president held a meeting on Sunday with the prime minister and presidents of
the Hirshabele, Galmudug and South West states, as well U.N. representatives
and Mogadishu's mayor.
The
meeting was reported by the state-run Somalia News Agency. The Facebook page of
the president's office said it was a preliminary meeting, without saying when
more talks would be held.
An
alliance of opposition parties said in early February they would reject any
attempt to extend Mohamed's term, calling a national council of lawmakers,
opposition leaders and civil society to rule until a successor was chosen.
Government
troops and opposition supporters exchanged gunfire in Mogadishu on Friday
during a protest over the delayed vote. Rival presidential candidates have
called for more protests until a new head of state is chosen.
Somalia
had planned to hold elections to pick a president and lawmakers, its first
direct vote since civil war erupted in 1991. But delays in preparations and al
Shabaab attacks meant this was replaced by an indirect vote in which lawmakers
are picked by selected elders and others.