Civil society groups in Somalia have denied reports floating around that they endorsed calls for universal suffrage after meeting President Mohamed Farmaajo.
The meeting between the groups and President Farmaajo took place in Dhusamareb on the sidelines of the ongoing talks with regional leaders.
President Farmaajo, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, and the five leaders of the Federal Member States (FMS) have been in Dhusamareb talking about the upcoming polls.
Farmaajo held preliminary talks with civil society on Saturday where the agenda included the current situation in the country and Somalia’s upcoming polls.
Following this meeting, reports emerged showing that the civil society resolved to back the calls for one-person-one-vote polls.
Representatives of the civil society groups later issued a press release terming the statement from Villa Somalia that they supported universal suffrage polls “unfortunate.”
Moreover, the group also clarified that they had not offered their support to any particular model.