Lawmakers reject dropping president’s impeachment motion

Lawmakers leading the impeachment motion against Somali president have dismissed a decision by the parliament speaker which dropped the the motion which the international community warned could lead to a political turmoil in Somalia.

The speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari said in a statement on Friday evening that 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.

However, Abdullahi Godah Barre, the spokesman for the lawmakers who proposed the impeachment motion has termed the speaker’s decision ‘unacceptable’ which he said reached a flawed and inconclusive decision.

“It’s a pointless decision which was made contrary to the public interest – it will not change anything.” He said in an interview with the BBC Somali Service Saturday.

“It’s a not a conclusion that can overturn our campaign.” He added.

Mr. Barre has further stated that the decision by the speaker was an idea innovated by the president and the speaker single-handedly, thinking it would solve the crisis which the president earlier warned would reflect on the interest of the Somalis.

Asked whether their camp would attend talks proposed by the speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari which is scheduled to take on 7th October to end the crisis, he said that his alliance would not by no means partake it, calling the speaker ‘biased’ in ending the political mayhem.

“What are the talks we should attend if the impeachment motion was dropped?” he enquired.

He affirmed that they would not make any concessions towards the impeachment motion, saying their lawyers would write to the speaker to raise their concern.

“We shall present all the evidence we have on the internet to demonstrate the fairness of our conclusion.” He asserted.

Mr. Jawari, the speaker of the parliament has 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.

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

HIIRAANONLINE