Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Sunday suspended the powers of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, the president’s office confirmed in a statement, reported DW News. The prime minister’s suspension comes after he and President Mohamed entered into a war of words, accusing each other of holding up the country’s ongoing parliamentary elections.
President Mohamed said the prime minister’s powers will continue to remain suspended until a probe over allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds.
“The Prime Minister is posing a serious threat to the electoral process and overstepping his mandate,” the Somalian president’s office said in a statement.
It added that other members of the Council of Ministers would continue their duties in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country.
In response, Prime Minister Roble’s office later put out its own statement that said the president had spent a lot of time, energy, and finances in frustrating the national elections and was derailing the electoral process.
The parliamentary elections in Somalia began on November 1 and were supposed to be completed by December 24. But, only 24 of 275 parliamentarians in the lower house have been elected so far.
Prime Minister Roble’s Sunday statement said he would hold meetings on Monday to find ways to speed up the election.
While President Mohamed’s office said that he would hold a separate meeting on the elections to agree on a capable leadership to spearhead timely, and transparent elections.
In April, clashes erupted between factions of the security forces allied to Mohamed and Roble, as the prime minister and opposition decried a move to extend the president’s four-year term to two more years.
The groups seized areas of the capital Mogadishu, forcing almost 60,000 to 100,000 people to flee their homes. The spat was resolved after Mohamed put the prime minister in charge of security and of organizing the delayed elections.
In related news, the United States government on Sunday also called on the Somalian government to get a credible and rapid conclusion to the elections.
