Hiiraan Online
Saturday, September 26, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) ----Speaker of the Somali parliament says he dismissed the impeachment motion against the president as invalid, citing legal reasons, ending months of political uncertainty that saw MPs battling for the removal of the incumbent president.
In a statement issued on Friday evening, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari said he concluded ending the political crisis through talks to avoid further ‘chaos’ which he said could have a negative consequence on the current political and security gains.
“I hereby declare that starting from 25/9/2015 we have nullified the existence of the motion submitted to the parliament’s leadership council,” Mr. Jawari said in the statement which outlined numerous legal bases behind his decision.
Mr. Jawari has also dismissed treason and corruption allegations against the president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for which the MPs used as a reason for which they had to file the impeachment motion as ‘baseless’, terming large parts of the motion’s clauses as ‘unfitting’ to make solid arguments.
“During my consultations, I have met many MPs – some have solemnly acknowledged that some of the allegations they lined up were irrelevant while others said that their endorsements were archaic.” He said in the statement.
The development comes few weeks after large parts of the MPs behind the impeachment motion ruled out talks to end the political bickering, calling for the president to follow suit to the former Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf who resigned after the parliament tried to impeach him in 2008.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has subsequently warned against the campaign, calling the legislators to reflect on the country’s interests and avoid creating a political mayhem which he said could derail ‘progressive’ political and security gains in Somalia.
The United Nations has also added its voice to the international community pressure, calling for resolving the impeachment crisis through dialogue
In the meantime, Somalia plans to hold a presidential election in 2016.
Somalia’s donors often express worries over perpetual political wrangling between presidents, prime ministers and parliament, saying the spat could inflame tensions and undermine the country’s recovery from over two decades of conflict