Somali federal, regional leaders agree to address raft of issues

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-12 01:31:24|Editor: yan
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MOGADISHU, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Somali political leaders on Sunday wrapped up a four-day meeting in Mogadishu where they resolved to address issues such as security, political roadmap for 2020 and equitable sharing of national resources.

The leaders, from both central and regional governments, agreed to speed up integration and training of Danab Special Forces (Somali National Army's commandos division) to help stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.

According to a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting, the government agreed to support regional police and paramilitary forces with weapons, training, benefits and logistics.

The meeting tasked the national security committee to produce a budget plan to fund security offices of the regional federal member states.

On the roadmap for 2020 popular vote, the participants agreed that technical committees will propose an electoral system within four weeks ahead of drafting electoral laws and that the constitutional review process will be completed by the end of 2018.

Somalia's electoral body has already launched a five-year roadmap to help guide the management and administration of the country's "one-person, one-vote" elections in 2020-2021.

The National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) says the roadmap, developed with the support of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), will provide guidelines for all activities to be undertaken by the commission and will be subject to periodic review.

The meeting, which was attended by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and regional leaders, also agreed on sharing of the revenue from the foreign fishing companies in Somalia's territorial waters.

The agreement allows the country's regional administrations to govern fishing licenses within 24 nautical miles while the federal government manages seas beyond that.

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