Somalia’s outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has accepted Parliament’s vote of no confidence to oust him from his position as head of the country’s government.
On Saturday evening, Hassan Ali Khaire, a former oil executive and humanitarian aid worker, addressed the media in the capital, Mogadishu, where he announced his resignation.
Set good example
While he argued that MPs had acted unconstitutionally as it did not follow the due processes required for the removal of a prime minister from his position, he said he was quitting the post to set a good example in leadership.
“I have decided to be an example for the Somali people by resigning from the position I have held for the Somali people,” said PM Khaire.
“Knowing that what happened in the parliament was illegitimate, away from the correct procedure for the removal of an executive, and it was not in the chamber’s agenda and neither consistent with the constitution, I have decided to leave the position I have been holding for the Somali people,” remarked the departing premier.
Waxaan go’aansaday inaan anigu ummadda Soomaaliyeed u noqdo tusaale oo aan iska casilo xilkii ummadda Soomaaliyeed aan u hayay anigoo dhowraya midnimada dalka iyo inaan dib loogu laaban burbur iyo dhibaato#HiigsiIyoHorumar#AmaanoIyoAdeeg pic.twitter.com/ST0Lrz6tpQ
— Hassan Ali Khaire (@HassanAKhaire) July 25, 2020
Waxaan dalkeyga iyo dadkeyga ugu adeegayay daacadnimo iyo hufnaan anigoo aaminsan inay aheyd waajib dalkeyga iga saaran pic.twitter.com/kQfTDeo0Ss
— Hassan Ali Khaire (@HassanAKhaire) July 25, 2020
Speaker of Somalia’s Lower House of Parliament Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman announced yesterday that 170 MPs voted in favor of Khaire’s ouster while 7 voted against it.
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Khaire is the longest serving prime minister since the collapse of the central government in 1991.
“In a quorum of 178 legislators, the government lost the vote of confidence by 170,” the speaker said.
Meanwhile, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who accepted the outcome of the vote, appointed Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled to act as prime minister.
A simmering power struggle between Khaire and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed provided the backdrop to the vote, which resulted in 170 of parliament’s 178 MPs backing the motion.
President Mohamed, who appointed Khaire in February 2017, has been at loggerheads with the prime minister over when to stage Somalia’s national elections, due in February 2021. The president was in favor of postponing the nationwide ballot, with Khaire insisting it should go ahead.
Many political analysts believe that Khaire is likely to contest in the upcoming presidential elections.
