Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke Reappointed as Somali Prime Minister
21st May 2010 · 1 Comment · By Newstime Africa
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke
Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and his cabinet have been reinstated by Somalia’s president on Thursday after days of uncertainty following a parliamentary vote of no confidence in them. The President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, asked Sharmarke and his ministers to step down after the vote on Sunday. A total 280 MPs had chosen to sack them, according to former speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe, who has since resigned. “Why I replaced the prime minister was because I was referring to a letter from the former speaker, but I have ordered the government to continue its duties because when I discussed with lawyers, they said it was unconstitutional,” Ahmed said in a statement.
The Prime Minister had refused to leave his position, maintaining that parliament’s move was unconstitutional. The chamber, whose business has been paralysed because many legislators live in Kenya, Europe and America because of security fears in the war-raven country, met on Sunday for the first time since December. It seems the president’s action to reinstate the prime minister was probably just a temporary solution to keep the government together until he could get parliament to remove him properly.
Somalia has been deprived of effective central government for nearly 20 years and Sharif Ahmed’s Western-backed administration controls no more than a few blocks of Mogadishu, with the help of African Union troops. The country is beset by near-daily attacks from the Islamist al Shabaab group, widely known as al Qaeda’s proxy in the region, and Hizbul Islam, another hard-line group. The AU peace mission bolstering it in Mogadishu has just under 7,000 troops, according to the United Nations, and its soldiers are also under frequent attacks from roadside bombs and rebel artillery. Somalia is facing a serious threat of total civil war if the international community does not find a lasting solution for peace in this volatile country
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Tags: al-qaeda, al-shabaab, AMISOM, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, Somalia
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