Presidential candidates from the opposition held a meeting with Federal Member States (FMS) leaders allied to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
The meeting between the opposition candidates and Farmaajo’s loyalists took place on January 10, 2021.
FMS leaders from Galmudug, Southwest, and HirShabelle held a meeting with opposition candidates at a hotel in Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport.
Leaders present at the meeting included Ahmed Abdi Karie Qoorqoor of Galmudug, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen of Southwest, and Ali Guudlawe of HirShabelle.
According to multiple sources, the three FMS leaders held an earlier meeting President Farmaajo.
Afterward, they offered to mediate the talks between them, Farmaajo’s administration, Jubbaland, Puntland, and the opposition.
The meeting took place a day after Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble announced that the country would proceed with elections.
Roble said that elections would take place in Galmudug, HirShabelle, Southwest, and Benadir Region.
The Farmaajo allies offered to remove some of the controversial names in the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT).
Opposition politicians are adamant that they would only take part in elections if FEIT were reconstituted by removing names of National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) officers.