Hargeisa (PP News Desk) — The President-elect of The Somaliland administration, Abdirahman Abdullahi, is planning to visit Ethiopia after his inauguration. Mr Abdullahi will meet the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to discuss the maritime Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that has not yet been submitted to the Somaliland House of Representatives in Hargeisa. Earlier this year, Mr Abdullahi told a reporter that he did not know the details of the MoU and that he, in principle, supports any mutually beneficial cooperation with another country.
Mohamed Jama Galal, the Information Secretary of the winning Waddani Party, told BBC News that the new administration would review the maritime Memorandum of Understanding the outgoing Somaliland administration signed with Ethiopian Prime Minister on 1 January 2024. The maritime MoU, signed several weeks after Somalia and Ethiopia entered into a defence pact, had strained relations between the countries. The Federal Government of Somalia managed to exclude Ethiopia from the peacekeeping force set to operate in Somalia in 2025.
The resumption of Somalia-Somaliland talks is unlikely as long as the Federal Government of Somalia insists on the precondition that the Somaliland government must withdraw from the maritime MoU.
© Puntland Post, 2024
