The United Nations Security Council has urged Somalia’s feuding government leaders to resolve their disagreements through dialogue and give top priority to holding long-delayed national elections this year.
The 15-member body in a statement on Saturday also called on the federal government and regional states “to ensure that any political differences do not divert from united action against al-Shabab and other militant groups”.
The text approved by all council members followed emergency consultations on Friday on Somalia’s worsening political crisis, which has raised regional and international concerns that elections could be threatened and the wider region could face further destabilisation.
The meeting came a day after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said he had suspended Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble’s power to hire and fire officials, the latest action in their increasingly divisive relationship.
In the statement, council members expressed “deep concern about the ongoing disagreement within the Somali government and the negative impact on the electoral timetable and process”.
They urged all parties “to exercise restraint, and underlined the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in Somalia”.
Analysts say the impasse has distracted from Somalia’s larger problems, most notably the fight against al-Shabab. The al-Qaeda-linked group was driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago but retains control of swaths of countryside and continues to stage deadly attacks as it fights to overthrow Somalia’s internationally recognised government.
