Speaker of Somalia's Parliament Resigns
Resignation followed three-week power struggle with Prime Minister
Somalia’s Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Osman Jawari, has resigned after a three-week power struggle with the country’s prime minister, officials say Constitution Minister Abdirahman Hosh Jibril announced in a tweet that Speaker Jawari had submitted his resignation. Member of Parliament Hussein Arab Isse also told VOA Somali that the Speaker has resigned. “Deputy Speaker (Abdiweli Mudey) read the resignation letter from the Speaker in front of us this morning,” Isse said. Isse also said that the Speaker took into account advice from President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, to avert further political stand off. One of Speaker Jawari’s aides told VOA that he chose to resign. “It’s done, he resigned,” says the aide who didn't want to be identified. “He will say his good-byes to the parliament on Wednesday.” Lawmakers supporting Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused Jawari of “violating” parliamentary rules and of slowing down legislative affairs. But Jawari denied the allegations, arguing that it was executive branch overreach from the office of the Prime Minister, which wanted him out. Jawari’s camp said the executive branch proposed no-confidence motions against him in order to consolidate power. Neither the President nor the PM publicly commented on the fiasco. The resignation came as lawmakers supporting the PM were planning to vote on a no-confidence motion against the Speaker on Monday. Jawari, 73, first became Speaker in August 2012, and was re-elected again in January 2017. He was known as more of a technocrat than a politician and has led the parliament during series of political crises. The Lower House of Parliament has two weeks to elect a new Speaker.