Nothing Concrete - Somali Electoral Process Talks Collapse

Talks between the Somali government and opposition presidential candidates have collapsed, but Prime Minister Mohamed Roble has said that some progress in the negotiations has resulted in relative calm in the past few days. He said the government will continue holding talks on the implementation of the pre-election agreement, which was reached on September 17, 2020, with leaders of the federal member states. The negotiations collapsed on March 5, 2021, after the opposition requested to be included in future election talks, he said, noting that some concessions were made. Some opposition leaders blame President Mohamed Farmajo for the collapse of the talks, saying the government was just buying time and had nothing concrete to offer.