Southwest State President Urges MPs and Senators to “Decide Our Destiny to Rule Somalia”

[Deeq A.]

President Abdiaziz Laftagareen: We must become leaders, not the led”

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — President of the Southwest State of Somalia Abdiaziz Mohamed today urged new MPs and Senators elected in the federal member state’s constituencies to ensure that “we must become leaders, not the led”.

President Abdiaziz spoke at a ceremony for conferring electoral certificates on new MPs and Senators. “We must decide our destiny to rule Somalia. We should no longer be content with being dictated to” added President Abdiaziz. His remarks were interpreted as an endorsement of the “regime change agenda” pioneered by Puntland State but was faulted to portraying Southwest State as political underdogs.

Southwest State President opposes the revival of old guards under which other Somali political leaders have taken Southwest State MPs and later Senators for granted during the election season. Southwest State has the largest number of MPs and Senators but cannot win the Somalia Presidency without an alliance with other Somali MPs from the remaining 3.5 clans.

“Abdiaziz Lagtagareen is not ready for national political leadership because he couches his aspirations in an exclusivist style. He did not convey a vision for all Somali citizens. He claimed that his State was entitled to decide who will become the President of Somalia. He should have kept his cards to the chest” said a political journalist in Mogadishu.

Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni and President Abdiaziz have, in different ways, so far expressed an interest to unseat the incumbent Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed who is believed to have been an ally of the Southwest State President.

© Puntland Post, 2022

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