SOMALIA: UN seeks wide consultation for post-TFG rule

Photo: Office of Somali President

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (left), Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglo (centre) and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. The international community has recently expressed growing interest in resolving the Somali question

NAIROBI, 27 January 2011 (IRIN) - Consultations on the post-transitional government process in Somalia have started, and will involve all stakeholders and the international community, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Somalia said.

"There was unanimous agreement, both inside and outside Somalia, that the transitional period has to end in August as envisaged under the Djibouti Peace Agreement,” Augustine Mahiga told a news conference in Nairobi. “In the meantime, consultations are under way to develop a consensus on how to end the transition and on the nature of post-transition political arrangements.”

The term of office of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) expires in August. “We have less than seven months before the end of the transition, and yet a lot still has to be done. The question we are now asking ourselves is how to end this transitional government,” the envoy added on 26 January. “Without the constitutional process ending in time, we need to look for another way, and that will be a political way.”

A special high-level meeting to review the progress of the peace process in Somalia will take place in Ethiopia during the African Union summit this weekend. It will be convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Jean Ping, chairman of the AU. Other meetings are scheduled for later in the year and will involve Somali civil societyRead More