Somalia president to address nation as PM rejects term extension

Prime minister rejects the proposed extension of the president’s term in office and calls for elections to be held.

Somalia’s president will address the nation on Tuesday after two key states rejected an extension of his term in office and the prime minister asked the country to prepare for elections, whose delay has led to the worst political violence in Mogadishu for years. Civilians have fled their homes in the Somali capital following renewed clashes between rival factions in the security forces, which have split in a dispute over an extension to the president’s term. Earlier this month, Somalia’s lower house of parliament voted to extend the four-year term of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmaajo, but the Senate rejected the move, provoking the crisis.