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| Africa Horn |
| Somali Supreme Court backs president |
| 2010-10-28 |
| [Iran Press TV] The Supreme Court in Somalia has supported the country's president in the dispute with the speaker of the parliament over how to confirm the newly- appointed prime minister. Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed maintains that the vote should be an open one while the parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan contends that secret balloting would be more appropriate, Xinhua reported on Tuesday. In a statement issued by Somalia's highest court, chief justices ruled that the vote should be conducted by hand-raising as has been the case in previous confirmation votes in the parliament. "The confirmation vote of the Prime Minister should be by hand-raising which is legal and has precedence," the chief justices said. The constitutional dispute began when the new prime minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, was appointed by the country's president. The dispute has since escalated with rival politicians supporting each of the two men holding opposing meetings in Mogadishu. More than 240 pro-president politicians on threatened to hold a parliamentary meeting on Monday without the presence of the parliament speaker but this was called-off after the intervention of the Supreme Court. A similar meeting by pro-speaker MPs was held in the restive capital Mogadishu on Tuesday dismissing the Supreme Court ruling saying there was no "legal ambiguity" calling for the intervention of the Supreme Court. The Somali parliament is anticipated to meet on Wednesday with the top agenda for both sides of the divide being the affirmation vote of the newly chosen Prime Minister. Each side is still maintaining its position on how the vote should be conducted. The appointment of Mohamed has been controversial as he is thought of as being closer to the president rather than the speaker, analysts say. The dispute emerged after both leaders over the weekend issued opposing statements on the legality of each side's position, over the method of voting to endorse the new prime minister. The row is seen as major setback for the hapless Somali government which is fighting an insurgency that has forced the government into a few blocks of the restive capital. |
| Posted by:Fred |