Puntland Government Criticizes Somali Feds Over Conference on Transition to Democracy

The Puntland regional government Sunday (August 25th) criticised a national conference organised by the Somali federal government planned for September 2nd-6th in Mogadishu.

The conference, Vision 2016: Transitioning Towards Democracy, will take place in advance of the New Deal for Somalia conference in Brussels on September 16th.

The Puntland administration said in statement said that the conference “reflects the subversive political agenda of the [federal government of Somalia], aiming to marginalise the states and pursue a collision course between the centre (the government) and the periphery (the states)”.

Puntland suspended relations with the federal government as of August 5th.

Meanwhile, Spokesman for Puntland’s Civil Society Coalition Dahir Omar accused the region’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole of hindering the ongoing Jubbaland peace talks in Addis Ababa by coercing Jubbaland regional presidential claimant Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe not to sign peace agreements with the government, Somalia’s Radio Dalsan reported Sunday.