Somalia's political leaders have agreed to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 10, the prime minister's office said Tuesday, following months of deadlock that turned violent at times.
The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble unveiled the timetable for indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in a statement on Twitter, saying stakeholders had agreed to a roadmap for a vote following two days of talks in the capital Mogadishu.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, commonly known as Farmajo, and the leaders of Somalia's five states had been unable to agree on the terms of a vote before his term lapsed in February, triggering an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
The political impasse exploded into violence in April when negotiations collapsed and the lower house of parliament extended the president's mandate by two years, sparking gun battles on the streets of Mogadishu.
Under pressure, president Farmajo reversed the mandate extension and ordered his prime minister to reconvene with the state leaders to chart a fresh roadmap towards elections.
Mogadishu and the states struck a deal last September paving the way for elections and a vote for the presidency by February this year.
But distrust between Farmajo and the states over key appointments to crucial election committees, fears of rigging, and concerns about securing the vote itself scuttled the plan.
Months of UN-backed negotiations failed to get the timetable back, and international sanctions were threatened if the troubled Horn of Africa nation did not hold elections soon.
The country still battles the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group, which controlled Mogadishu until 2011 when it was pushed out by African Union troops, but still holds territory in the countryside.
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