Somalia donors warn spat between president and PM risks recovery
Mon Nov 3, 2014 12:49pm GMT
* Donors fear turmoil could disrupt fight against al Qaeda
* President, PM at loggerheads over cabinet posts
* Somalia ravaged by conflict since 1991
By Drazen Jorgic
NAIROBI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations and the European Union have
warned that a dispute between Somalia's president and prime minister could
inflame tensions and undermine the country's recovery from more than two
decades of conflict.
Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, an economist who has been running the
cabinet since December 2013, fell out with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
last month over the composition of the new cabinet.
A similar row between Mohamud and the previous prime minister paralysed the
government for months last year, leading to the eventual ouster of the
then-prime minister by lawmakers.
The United Nations, the EU and other major donors worry another prolonged
power vacuum would interrupt efforts to rebuild state institutions and
defeat al Qaeda-linked militants who control parts of the Horn of Africa
country.
Nicholas Kay, U.N. special representative for Somalia, said late on Sunday
he was "deeply concerned" over the political tensions between the two men
and warned that the dispute could undermine progress ahead of planned
elections in 2016.
"This (row) is already having an impact on the functioning of the federal
institutions and Somalia's state and peace building goals," the EU's Somalia
envoy, Michele Cervone D'Urso, and the bloc's Horn of Africa Special
Representative, Alexander Rondos, added in a joint statement.
"We therefore urge all to desist immediately from actions that will only
damage the country as it seeks to unify itself in peace and prosperity,"
D'Urso and Rondos added.
The frequent quarrelling between Somalia's presidents and prime ministers is
down to a complex constitution, designed to encourage power-sharing, which
forces an elected president to handpick a prime minister from a rival clan
and then hand over vast powers to that unelected post.
Prime Minister Ahmed said the president and himself understand the donors'
concerns and added that the progress made in rebuilding Somalia over the
past year should not be interrupted.
"I assure you that the President and I are in constant discussions working
together on behalf of the Somali people," Ahmed told Reuters in an e-mailed
statement.
But in an apparent rebuff to EU and U.N. statements calling for the two men
to work together, Mohamud on Monday called for the international community
to show "respect for Somalia's right to self-determination".
Mohamud also added that "lack of performance, at any level, will not be
accepted" within the government.
PARLIAMENT BRIBES
Somalia is attempting to rebuild itself after two decades of civil war and
lawlessness triggered by the overthrow of president Siad Barre in 1991. The
fragile government is being backed by international aid aimed at preventing
it from becoming a haven for al Qaeda-style militants in east Africa.
The tensions between Ahmed and Mohamud flared up last month when the prime
minister re-shuffled the cabinet and the president issued a statement saying
Ahmed had not consulted him on the changes and declared them null and void.
Ahmed's predecessor, former prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, was ousted by
lawmakers last year when he also fell out with Mohamud over the make-up of
Somalia's cabinet. The president said Shirdon was sacked because of poor
performance.
If Mohamud asks for Ahmed to resign and the prime minister refuses, members
of parliament (MPs) can force him out through a 'no confidence' vote.
U.N. envoy Kay said he had heard allegations some MPs had been offered
bribes to influence their vote if there was a motion against Ahmed --
without saying who had made the allegations or who was offering the bribes.
"I am concerned about allegations of some MPs being asked to exchange votes
for cash in the context of a potential 'no confidence' motion, which is a
disservice to Somalia's progress towards accountability and transparency,"
added Kay in his statement.
"Somalia and Somalis deserve better." (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Editing
by Andrew Heavens)