 Somali MPs threw punches and wrestled on the floor after Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi survived a crucial confidence vote that could have led to the collapse of his weak government. Armed police entered parliament to separate four brawling members of parliament and escort Mr Gedi out during several minutes of chaos, witnesses said. "Which police?"
"Armed police." |
| “Armed police entered parliament to separate four brawling members of parliament and escort Mr Gedi out...” |
He actually lost the vote - by 88 votes to his opponents' 126 - but this fell short of the two-thirds majority they needed to censure him in the old grain store which has been converted into Somalia's temporary parliament. Defeat would have sparked the dissolution of the interim government's executive, already in some disarray over the threat from the Islamic militia movement, which has taken the capital, Mogadishu, and a large part of southern Somalia. "Whatever we were accused of we will try to rectify," Mr Gedi told supporters. "I thank those who brought the motion because they proved that we have democracy."
The anti-Gedi faction had argued his performance was incompetent and his removal necessary to create a post for Mogadishu's new Islamic rulers to come into government.| Not getting their way might make the Islamists angry. And you wouldn't like them when they're angry. |
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