HARGEISA (SD) -The outgoing President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, held hours-long meeting today with the leaders of the ten political organizations in Somaliland.

The president reportedly invited the leaders of the two opposition parties, Waddani and UCID, but they refused to attend the meeting.

Muse Bihi, according to a press release from the presidency, gave a general briefing to the leaders of political organizations on the memorandum of understanding between him and Abey Ahmed, and the talks that resumed in Djibouti between Somaliland and the Federal Government of Somalia.

The presidency did not provide details on how the political party leaders responded to the president’s briefing, and it is not clear why the opposition parties declined to participate in the meeting.

However, The opposition parties had previously stated that they did not approve of the president’s approach in handling the talks with Somalia and the MoU with Ethiopia, raising concerns about legal implications and the role of the parliament in such matters.