Thursday, October 28, 2010
The UN envoy jointly met the two leaders in Mogadishu on Wednesday and urged them to end their differences over the appointment of Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and how to conduct the parliamentary vote to approve the appointment of the new PM.
“The UN envoy told the president and the speaker to put aside their disagreements and go forward from the political split and the power struggle between them and he urged them to respect the federal charter of Somalia,” presidential information officer Abdirashid Khalif Hashi told reporters in Mogadishu on Wednesday.
While he said that both leaders accepted the suggestion, but he did not disclose whether President Sheikh Sharif and Speaker Sharif Hassan had agreed on how the Prime Minister’s parliamentary vote of confidence will be conducted.
The president wanted an open vote, while the speaker argued that the vote must be conducted in a secret manner. However, the country’s Supreme Court ordered Tuesday that the Prime Minister’s appointment must be approved through an open vote.
The Somali parliament was due to meet on Wednesday, but it was postponed for the third time in a week. Parliamentary secretary Ibrahim Hussein Bule who talked to reporters said that Wednesday’s meeting was delayed because of what he described as technical reasons.
“What I can confirm to you is only that the meeting was postponed today and I cannot exactly tell when parliament will assemble,” Bule told reporters.
Source: APA