Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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Somali lawmakers on Monday vowed to meet on Tuesday to confirm the newly appointed premier, a day earlier than the date scheduled by the parliament speaker, further deepening the rift between senior leaders.The Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the speaker of the parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan openly disagreed over how the vote to confirm the new named prime minister will be conducted.
The Somali leader maintains the vote be an open one while the speaker contends it should be through secret ballot.
More than 200 pro-president lawmakers met in the Somali capital Mogadishu and announced the parliament will hold its meeting on Tuesday despite the speaker's statement that the lawmakers will meet Wednesday.
The lawmakers said that the decision by the speaker to postpone the meeting of the Somali legislature was unconstitutional and will choose an interim speaker if the incumbent or his deputies do not attend and chair the meeting.
There has been simmering differences between the Somali president and the speaker of the parliament since the appointment of the new prime minister who is seen as closer to the president than the speaker.
The dispute emerged after both leaders issued over the weekend opposing statements on the legality of each side's position over the method of voting to approve the new prime minister.
Meanwhile local media reports said that the two leaders have met on the issue but could not reach an agreement to resolve the dispute between them.
The row is seen as major setback for the Somali government which is fighting a deadly Islamist insurgency that forced the government into a few blocks of the restive capital, Mogadishu while Islamist rebels run much of south and center of Somalia.
The Somali government has been beset by internal differences since its formation in 2004 hindering its efforts to fight against the Islamist rebels.
Source: Xinhua