Hiiraan Online
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Mogadishu, Somalia (HOL) - Today’s meeting in the Somalia Parliament closed prematurely without official proceedings as parliamentarians once again disagreed over the debate concerning the Motion of No Confidence in the Somali Prime Minister, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
As soon as the debate on the motion was due to begin, supporters of the Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed started singing the Somali National Anthem and other nationalistic songs to disrupt official proceedings and prevent the vote of No-Confidence motion debate taking place. Many of these supporters of the Prime Minister also held up signs opposing the motion and offering their support to the Prime Minister who is fighting for his political life.
Today’s parliamentary session which was already running behind schedule ended almost as it began with these disruptions as the Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawaari, brought it to an end after his calls for calm were rejected by protesting pro-Prime Minister lawmakers.
It is believed that there are about 165 MPs who signed a draft motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister and many of these were frustrated with the outcome of the meeting in parliament today. More stressing for them is how long this behaviour will continue on the part of the Prime Minister’s supporters and what they can do about it next time.
“A few irresponsible people are shaming our parliament by not doing what they should do as lawmakers,” said an MP who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t support neither the President nor Prime Minister but people have to let parliament do its job.”
Other MP’s who were approached for interviews expressed deep disappointment in their colleagues supporting the Prime Minister’s actions today but most understood that this is the only way his supporters can delay the vote or “pressurise the international community to help the Prime Minister.”
An independent observer working with a capacity building organisation attached to the Parliament who had been present during the incident said that he had seen all this before with the former Prime Minister of Somalia, Abdi Farah Shirdon and all it does is sadly “delay the inevitable” unless their is reconciliation between President Hassan Sheikh and Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
The European Union, UN and other major stakeholders in Somalia have expressed their concerns about this division between the Somali President and Prime Minister through their special representatives and ambassadors. Most recently the US government threatened to halt aid to Somalia as a result of this conflict. However, in response to the earlier press releases from the European Union and UN representatives to Somalia outlining their concerns, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud responded angrily by advising them to not interfere in internal Somali processes which he said must take their natural cause to conclude.
Source: Hiiraan Online