Somalia: Police chief suspended as Farmajo's tussle with PM hits new low

MOGADISHU, Somalia - On a day believed to be "make or break" for Somalia, uncertainty has engulfed the struggling Horn of Africa nation, following the latest twist on elections of Lower House leadership, which plays a vital role in presidential polls.

Already, the Upper House managed to conduct polls of House leadership with little struggle as expected given that it has often differed with outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who lost control due to competing interests between the federal authorities and member states.

But it's the elections of Speaker of Lower House and two deputies which were scheduled for Wednesday [today], that seem to have attracted interests from Villa Somalia, leading to an appalling situation that could further prolong electoral exercise which is already beyond schedule.

Irked by the "mishandling" of security, Security Minister Abdullahi Nor, who is in charge of security, dismissed police chief Major General [Rtd] Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar, who he accused of "sabotaging" elections by taking instructions from Villa Somalia.

The Somali security minister Abdullahi Nor, a close ally of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, said he had “suspended” police commander General Hijaar for “attempting to block” parliamentary leadership election and for “getting mixed” with politics.

Further, the statement adds that General Hijar is orchestrating actions that endanger the lives of senior politicians during an election period. The police chief had been linked to NISA's attempted raid at the airport where newly elected MPs from Gedo were taking the oath of allegiance earlier this week.

Before his dismissal, General Hijar had insisted that he wanted Wednesday's [today] Lower House leadership election postponed, adding that he couldn't guarantee security. The police chief was targeted by Al-Shabaab last week in a meeting where he was holding sessions with MPs from a particular region.

The standoff has triggered sharp divisions between Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and Farmajo, who are tussling over security within the venue of the parliamentary session.

In a statement, Roble asked the African Union Transition Mission [ATMIS] forces to take security responsibilities for the successful completion of Lower House leadership elections and subsequent presidential polls.

"In light of the severity of the security challenges impeding the completion of the elections, I have authorized ATMIS peacekeepers to immediately take over the security of the air force hangar as we complete the election of parliamentary leadership and prepare for the presidential election," he said in a statement.

According to the PM, the list of MPs to access Air Force Hangar [the tent] will be prepared by the interim Speaker of the House; the list will be sent to ATMIS. The tent is the same venue for the yet-to-be scheduled presidential election within the heavily fortified Halane Base Camp.

However, Farmajo, in a rejoinder, rejected PM Mohamed Hussein Roble’s authorization that AU forces take over the security of the venue of Wednesday's election. Farmaajo said the election security committee led by the police will be in charge of the security, with ATMIS in a supporting role.

Abdirizak Mohamed, the chairman of the House leadership elections team, also faulted a number of his team members for what he termed as "misleading information" to the public over who should be part of the MPs supposed to vote in the exercise.

"The committee mandate is to guide the election process; we will only follow &work with the list provided by the interim speaker of the HoP of parliament. It's unfortunate that some members would go that low to misrepresent facts," he noted while insisting that the interim speaker will release the list.

Although Somalia has had several election cycles some of which have been controversial, Abdi Aynte, a renowned analyst, contends that this year's polls were the most interfered with by the state, adding that those in charge [Farmaajo] are petty.

"Since the birth of the Third Republic 22 years ago, Somalia held 5 elections. All were controversial and complex, but none was as protracted and disruptive as the current one," he said." Why? Because petty and pugilistic leaders, who replaced magnanimous and deferential ones, are stopping at nothing."

After the elections of House leadership, the country is expected to hold presidential elections which were supposed to be held last year. Farmaajo and his Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble have sharply differed on the polls, with the opposition lauding Roble for his " firmness".

GAROWE ONLINE