MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Rift between Somalia’s outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble is widening, just days after their split emerged over delayed polls and tensions in the capital Mogadishu.
The PM alongside the leaders of Galmudug and Hirshabelle states, erstwhile allies of the outgoing president opposed a parliament vote that extended terms of both the executive and legislative branches of the government.
Since then he has begun meeting with opposition presidential candidates, civil society members and traditional leaders from his clan, who continue to press him to take the lead in election talks and fully distance himself from Farmajo’s efforts to stay beyond his constitutional term.
There have been reports that the parliament is planning to vote out the prime minister in a session during which the president is due to appear before MPs on Saturday, though house leadership denied the “the baseless rumors”.
The PM is calling for a peaceful resolution of tensions and is making efforts to prevent possible confrontations between two rival factions of the army after recent clashes displaced tens of thousands of families from the capital.
Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s willingness to order a large-scale offensive to ‘cleanse’ opposition forces and army mutineers is aggravating the row with his PM, who is hell-bent on peaceful end of a dispute on the electoral process and quick polls.
Some of the opposition presidential candidates, politicians and tribal leaders from his clan recommended that the PM take an immediate action towards progress and bring together disputing sides before he is removed in a rumored vote of no-confidence by the lower house of parliament.
The parliament ousted former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire in July last year in a vote that had not been disclosed in advance and now, there are fears that a similar possibility might be awaiting the current premier.
There have been reports that key allies of the embattled president, including the ministers of Security and Information will be fired in what many say may add tinder to an already escalating squabble at the presidential complex.
Contact us: info@somaliguardian.com