The legislature will soon form a parliamentary election committee that will organize the vote in parliamentto choose a president for the country and speaker
Special Report by Xinhua Correspondent Abdurrahman Warsameh
Friday, April 01, 2011
The Somali government’s decision on Monday comes as the mandate of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) is about to end next August and after the Somali parliament last February voted overwhelmingly to expand its own term by three years.
Parliament speaker Sharif Hassan sheikh Aden further announced this week that elections for the presidency and that of the speaker of parliament will be held as scheduled before or in August this year but the move was opposed by Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi.
The two leaders maintain that any move to extend the mandate of TFI’s should be consulted and that extension is needed not for one but for all the branches of government including the executive, legislative and judiciary.
The International community spearheaded by the United Nations as stronger backer of the government, for its part expressed its displeasure at the discussion of the Somali lawmakers to increase the term by three years calling the move “hasty”.
The government and the parliament leadership each claim they are the legitimate authority to decide on the extension of the term but analysts see the issue is an uncharted territory and unprecedented constitutional crises that could hamper the progress being made in particular against Islamist rebels.
“The parliament is the sole lawmaking body of the state and has the authority to address this kind of issue. The decision by the parliament to extend its mandate by three years is constitutional, legal, and necessary for the completion of the transitional tasks, “ Ibrahim Hassan Buleh, a lawmaker told Xinhua in Mogadishu .
Buleh condemned the government decision to extend its mandate and those of all the other federal institutions, such as the parliament and president as “laughable”, saying the government has no legal authority to decide on that.
He said the legislature will soon form a parliamentary election committee that will organize the vote in parliament some time before August to choose a president for the country and speaker.
Observers here say that the chronic wrangling within the government is more of a jostle for power than substantial constitutional debate and could potentially hamper progress the government has recently made in its fight against Islamist rebels bent on toppling it.
Islamist insurgency who wage almost daily attacks on the government and the African Union peacekeepers backing it could exploit the situation and launch sustained attacks as the politicking by officials gains pace, say analysts.
“The current charter does not explicitly indicate what should be done if the TFI’s fail to complete the transitional tasks during the current term and an extension was needed,” Omar Yalahow, a law expert in Mogadishu told Xinhua.
“Despite this negotiations and compromise were needed to move out of this uncharted territory and unprecedented constitutional crises which the country now faces because it has the potential to critically hampered progress the government has so far been making in restoring peace in the country.”
Both the government led by the prime minister and the president as head of state on one side and the speaker backed by a vast majority of the lawmakers on the other seem to agree on the need for the extension of the term but disagree on length and need for a new election for the president and speaker to renew their mandate.
“We know we have lot to do in the country in security, political and social aspects and with the end of the term coming only few months later we need to have framework to continue serving our people and the government’s decision to extend for one year is I think the right one,” Abdi Haji Goobdoon, the spokesman for the Somali government told Xinhua.
Goobdoon said instead of having “political vacuum” after the expiry of the current term in August the Somali government as the executive branch of the state put forward its decision on the way forward and is hopeful the parliament will “come to reason” on the issue at stake.
Analysts here contend that it was needed the international community whose support the government depends for its survival needs to have its influence to bear to avert full-blown political and constitutional crises in the war torn country still reeling from two solid decades of civil strife.
Source: Xinhua