The fresh round of talks between Somalia and Somaliland that were taking place in Djibouti collapsed yet again.
According to reports from Djibouti, President Musa Bihi Abdi of Somaliland insisted on the two-state solution, a demand that President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmaajo never took kindly.
Bihi said, “Somaliland continues to demand for a dialogue based on two-state solution to the problems facing the two nations.”
He says that Somaliland never seceded from Somalia but invoked its right to go separate ways when the latter went into a deadly Civil War in the 1990s.
On its part, Somalia has always insisted that Somaliland is its province.
Bihi reminded the audience during his address in Djibouti that Somaliland was initially an independent state before agreeing to form a union with Somalia voluntarily.
“Our long-standing view is Somali Republic was form by two countries that united. Sadly, the unity government failed thus convincing us to pursue our initial independence,” Bihi said.
President Bihi affirmed that Somaliland-Somalia dispute is not over secession but rather it revolves around his country’s dissolution of a union formed voluntarily.
He finished his address by wondering if the Djibouti talks could produce anything tangible when the signed agreements from Accra, London, and Istanbul have never been implemented.