Somalia: MPs 'withdraw' impeachment motion against president

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali lawmakers have shelved a contentious impeachment motion submitted against president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.

In a statement, the speaker of the House of the People, Mohamed Mursal said after negotiations, the parliamentarians and House leadership acknowledged that the current political atmosphere and conditions to be inappropriate for such a proceeding.

In a ddition, Mursal stated that 14 legislators said they did not support the motion, noting that their signatures had been erroneously included in the petition. 

The motion was filed on the 9th December with the signatures of 92 MPs, who accused Farmajo of abusing the oath of office and presidential powers by inking "secret deals" with Ethiopia and Eritrea without the consent of the national assembly and cabinet.

Farmajo was also blamed for illegally extraditing alleged criminals to other countries and violating Somalia's federalism law after interfering regional elections and the rules and regulations of parliament.

The legislators, mainly from the opposition parties were seeking removal of the sitting president, but, abandoned their bid following a closed-door meeting between the speaker and PM, Hassan Ali Khaire this week.

The proposition has added fuel to already a political crisis in the long-chaotic nation as the Parliament yet again divided between those favoring impeachment motion and those backing president Farmajo.

A political analyst based in Mogadishu told Garowe Online that the withdrawal of the motion would save the parliament’s time from being “wasted” as it has a daunting task ahead, including pending bills.

Under the provisional constitution, any impeachment motion should be scrutinized by a Constitutional Court, but the country does not currently have such a tribunal.

Farmajo, who is a dual U.S.-Somali citizen was elected by the Federal Parliament on 8th February 2017 in a vote seen as a major step forward for a country beset by two decades of bloody civil war.

GAROWE ONLINE