Somali parliament must vote on PM’s dismissal: cabinet

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Somalia's Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed gives the thumbs up upon arriving for consultations on the situation in Somalia in the Security Council Chambers at the United Nations headquarters in New York. (File Photo)

By AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE
Mogadishu Somalia

A deal signed by Somalia's president and parliament speaker providing for the dismissal of the premier and his government needs parliament's approval, the cabinet said late Saturday.

The ministers said they had met with Prime Minister Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed to discuss the agreement signed Thursday that extends the mandate of the transitional government by one year and defers elections to August 2012.

Abdullahi Mohamed has so far not commented publicly on the deal signed by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

"After discussing issues in the Kampala accord, the cabinet members decided the accord must be sent to parliament for endorsement," the cabinet said in a statement.

"The resignation of the prime minister, his cabinet members and the implementation of other articles in the agreement will depend on the approval of parliament," it added.

The mandate for the UN-backed government was supposed to expire on August 20 and the United Nations had been pressing for the parties to decide when elections could be held in the strife-torn Horn of Africa country.

Somalia's transitional government, which was set up in 2004 in Kenya and owes its survival to the international community, has been weakened by infighting between its leaders which has worsened as the end of the mandates approached.

Mr. Sharif had previously called for the extension, saying Somalia was too unstable for elections as it battles Al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants.

Parliament and the government had earlier announced unilateral prolongations of their respective mandates but came in for international criticism.

The signing of the Kampala accord was followed by two straight days of clashes between supporters of Abdullahi Mohamed and security personnel in Mogadishu. Friday's clashes claimed two lives.

The casualties, all among civilians, occurred when hundreds came out to protest President Sharif's demand for the prime minister to resign within 30 days.

The Kampala accord got the approval of the international community, with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the United Nations' Somalia representative Augustine Mahiga both witnessing the signing.

They agreed "to defer elections of the president and the speaker and his deputies for 12 months from August 2011 in order to adequately prepare and complete priority transitional tasks," the accord said.