Somalia: Somaliland parliament speaker, deputy trade punches in chaos

HARGEISA, Somalia, September 12, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Somaliland Parliament Speaker Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) has scuffled with deputy speaker Bashe Mohamed Farah for dispute over fuel depots, leading to unprecedented descendent into chaotic brawl on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.

Photos taken from parliamentary session in Somaliland capital, Hargeisa show a rowdy scene and chaos in the parliament.

Ruling Kulmiye Party MPs tabled a motion seeking that fuel depots be privatized in a move that angered Wadani opposition party leader and speaker Irro.

Parliament speaker called off the session and insisted that the motion will be reviewed by legal advisers before being voted in parliament.

In defiance, Farah tried to preside over the parliamentary session, subsequently drawing blows from Irro.

The session right away descended into chaos as ruling Kulmiye party MPs and opposition lawmakers engaged in mass brawl.

MP Saleban Awad Ali, motion proponent blamed parliament speaker for strongly contesting vote on a decision to lift ban on the privatization of fuel storage facilities in Berbera port city.

The scuffle marks the second in Somaliland parliament in two years.

Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia declared its independence from the rest of the country as  de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it has not been recognized internationally yet. 

GAROWE ONLINE