· The manner in which the Prime Minister Hassan Khaire, a former oil executive and humanitarian worker, was ousted from his position by the Somalia House of the People, or the Lower House, has dismayed everybody including the international community.
· The extraordinary meeting to discuss issues of elections suddenly called for a vote of confidence to assess the level of legislators’ confidence in the Executive led by Prime Minister Khaire
This year Somalia was expected to hold the much-awaited elections, a first in 50 years. But political wrangling and conspiracies have dimmed the hope for fair elections.
The manner in which Prime Minister Hassan Khaire, a former oil executive and humanitarian worker was ousted from his position by the Somalia House of the People, or the Lower House, has dismayed everybody including the international community.
The extraordinary meeting to discuss issues of elections suddenly called for a vote of confidence to assess the level of legislators’ confidence in the Executive led by Prime Minister Khaire. The motion was not listed in the day’s agenda.
Based on the voting, without following due process, the Speaker of the Parliament Mursal Mohamed Abdurahman announced “the government has fallen,” and ended the session. Soon, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo accepted the outcome of the parliamentary vote, and appointed Khaire’s deputy, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, to act as premier.
Political observers pointed out that the main reason for the removal of the Prime Minister was to derail the Dhusamareb agreement, the meeting of Farmaajo, Khaire and federal state presidents earlier in the week in the Galmudug state capital. The meeting had decided to have timely elections, and appoint a joint committee to recommend the mode of elections. With Khaire gone, the arrangement for timely elections is at stake.
The series of meetings in Dhusamareb town had recommended indirect voting in the country, which was seen as a quick and simple way of accelerating the voting process. If successful, the possibility of Farmaajo’s return to power was bleak because their chance of manipulating the voting through clan elders is high. Political analysts believe that Farmaajo could try to gain control by picking up the next PM from an influential circle and also try to strike a deal with political parties that may overthrow the indirect voting desired by his opponents
Somalia’s international partners issued a statement on August 4, four days after Khaire’s sacking, expressing their concerns and their strong hope that recent developments, including in the Federal parliament, will not create instability that may reverse the gains made so far on national priorities.
