Hiiraan Online
Monday, June 20, 2011
Mogadishu, Somalia (HOL) - The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia on Monday reportedly postponed a function in which the executive authorities were expected to name a new prime minister after Sunday’s resignation of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.
Government sources told Hiiraan Online that a fresh disagreement between president Sharif and Speaker Hassan may have led to the postponement of an anticipated announcement of a new prime minister for Somalia.
In the early morning hours on Monday, the president and the speaker were locked up in a meeting at government headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. The two were said to have been conversing over the probable successor for the premier’s office.
Public relations officials of the government have invited the local media for the faltered naming ceremony which was delayed due to what internal sources said was a ‘fresh row’ between the speaker and the president that cropped up yet again.
"We noticed enraged speaker Hassan coming out of the office of the president and immediately boarded his vehicle. We were later told the anticipated naming function was delayed” one Mogadishu-based reporter told HOL.
Local reporters who were invited and were present for the function said some government officials told them that it appeared the two Sharif’s failed to agree over who should take over the vacant office.
Some reports indicated that the president proposed the name of the acting Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali who took over office on Sunday. The speaker was seemingly opposed to the president’s proposal.
This latest emerging row between the president and the parliament speaker is a testimony to the endless political undertones that have marred the fragile western-backed government.
Persistent squabbling between the president and the speaker has hampered the efficiency of the interim authority where the two executive officials are embroiled in a heated political standoff that many analysts described as a very unfortunate one for Somali where a two-decade conflict still continues unabated.