Somalia's interim Parliament on Monday overwhelming backed the government of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, a day after the war-wracked country's president announced his dismissal. Speaker Aden Mohammad Nur said after counting the votes during a special Parliament session in the town of Baidoa that "143 MPs recognized the existence of the government, 20 rejected it and 7 abstained. "Therefore the government of Nur Adde [Hassan Hussein] is legitimate," he said.
On Sunday, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad announced that he was sacking the prime minister and the entire Cabinet because they had failed to bring security to the war-torn nation, but the premier challenged the move as unconstitutional.
According to the transitional federal charter, the president needs Parliament's approval to sack the prime minister.
Speaking to Parliament before the vote, Hussein said: "It was difficult to work with the president, who disapproved of the peace process."
"The president was interfering with the activities of the prime minister and Parliament," he said. "It's up to Parliament to make a decision in order to save the transitional federal institutions and the rule of law."
Yusuf had said Monday he would comply with Parliament's decision and gave no hint he would resign.