Mogadishu – A political opposition forum held at Hotel Jazeera in Mogadishu this evening released a statement concerning the country’s political situation. The statement accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of abandoning the nation’s constitution and laws, and undermining the political agreements that formed the foundation of the Third Republic, which originated from the Carte and Mbagathi conferences.

The forum also expressed serious concern about the unconstitutional extension of mandates for regional state administrations whose terms have expired, including Galmudug, Hirshabelle, and South West State. These extensions, they argued, violate both the federal constitution and regional state constitutions. The forum stated that the illegal term extensions, forced alignment with the President’s political party, and the collapse of the National Consultative Forum clearly demonstrate President Hassan Sheikh’s authoritarian ambitions and his plans to prolong his tenure while manipulating elections.

Additionally, the forum strongly criticized the concentration of government power, widespread corruption, and embezzlement. They condemned the illegal sale of public lands, secret agreements regarding natural resources like petroleum, minerals, and fisheries, the unfair distribution of employment opportunities and contracts, the biased allocation of development projects, and the overall failure in public service delivery.

The statement from the forum declared “The forum strongly denounces the abuse of power, rampant corruption, and predatory exploitation of Somalia’s petroleum, mineral, and marine resources through secret deals that bypass parliamentary oversight, as well as the inequitable distribution of job opportunities, contracts, development projects, and the general neglect of public services.”