 NAIROBI — Somalia's parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the country's new prime minister and his cabinet yesterday, sacking a government that was sworn in less than two weeks ago in an attempt to end 13 years of anarchy in the Horn of Africa nation, an official said.
| "The sackers who sacked the sacked have now themselves been sacked." |
Dalhar Omar, deputy speaker of the 275-member transitional parliament, said 153 members voted against Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, accusing him of failing to respect power-sharing arrangements reached in complex talks involving warlords and leaders of the main clans.
| The arrangements were so complex he couldn't follow them. |
Legislators also accused Gedi of violating the constitution by failing to seek a vote of confidence within 30 days after he was appointed to his post by the president, Omar said in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where the Somali parliament is based because the Somali capital is considered too dangerous. "But it is more than 40 days now and he has not sought a vote of confidence in the government," Omar said. "The parliament has asked the president to nominate a new prime minister, who will appoint a new government."
Somalia's president swore in Gedi's cabinet on December 1. The new government included warlords, clan leaders and technocrats and was expected to establish the first effective central government since 1991.
| Hmmm, Dec 1 to today carry the 2 ... timex 14, ... minus 3 toes ... that seems less than 30 days to me. Perhaps they adopted a different calendar. |
Somali President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed, who himself was elected by the parliament on October 14, had approved the 31-member cabinet.
The Somali presidential spokesman, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail, said Yusuf will reject the surprise vote because it was "flawed." "We cannot endorse the vote of no-confidence because all members of parliament who wanted to debate the motion did not get a chance to speak during the session ... and the vote was done after the parliamentary session was declared officially over," he said. "The vote was also wrong because the president and the prime minister were not given notice in time to appear before the legislature." Talks were underway between the president, cabinet and the secretary of the parliament to resolve the political crisis, he added.ÂÂ
| To be followed shortly by full-contact talks. |
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