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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue May 10 2011 - 13:26:04 EDT
Somali gov't prevents legislators from traveling
By MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 10, 12:02 PM
NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali security forces prevented more than 40
parliamentarians, including U.S. citizens, from leaving the country in the
latest altercation between the country's president and parliament, officials
said Tuesday.
The U.S. expressed concerns over the move and said several parliamentarians
were threatened with weapons and that at least three were physically
assaulted. The U.S. said the Mogadishu government, known as the Transitional
Federal Government, is stifling peaceful political discussions and silencing
critics.
"This action follows other efforts by the TFG in recent weeks to stifle
peaceful political discussion and to silence its critics," the U.S.
statement said. "The United States reminds the TFG of the commitment it made
to the United Nations Security Council to enhance reconciliation and
complete the transitional tasks which include completing the constitutional
process that will end the transitional period and bring sovereignty and
legitimacy back to Somalia."
The travel ban appears to be a part of a clash between the government and
parliament over the president's term. New elections are supposed to be held
by August, but the president wants to extend his term without a vote.
Some of the detained parliamentarians were traveling to an election workshop
in neighboring Kenya.
Hareed Hassan Ali, a spokesman for the parliamentary committee preparing for
new elections, accused President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed's administration
of scuttling efforts to hold a free and fair vote.
"We don't suspect but we are sure that the reason behind the government's
decision to bar committee members from traveling to Kenya was to foil
election preparations," he said. "Ahmed's administration feels that the
ground it is standing on is shaking."
A Somali government minister, Abdishakur Sheik Hassan, told Somali media
outlets that the lawmakers were stopped at the airport because they did not
follow rules, and that the government does not recognize the election
committee because it was appointed by an "individual," a reference to the
parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden.
Hassan didn't elaborate.
Somali lawmakers — who in February extended their own mandate by three years
— have been vowing for months to hold a presidential vote despite the
president's objections.
Ahmed's administration has been vigorously pushing for a one-year extension,
saying that it needs more time to capitalize on political and security
programs.
The two arms of Somalia's fragile government — the executive and legislature
— have been locked in a dispute over what to do when Ahmed's term expires.
Attempts to bridge the difference have so far failed.
Ahmed was elected to a two-year term in 2009 after his opposition group
signed a deal with the government. He is a former Islamist who headed an
insurgent group that fought for the removal of Ethiopian forces from
Somalia.
Ali said that despite Ahmed's desire to stay in office, new elections will
be held. Under the country's interim charter, the parliament has the sole
power to elect a president.
The international community, which provides the funds for Somalia's
government, is split on the need to replace Ahmed.
While the U.N. is pushing for new elections, five East African countries,
some of which either share borders with Somalia or have peacekeepers in
Mogadishu, recently said they supported the proposal to extend the
government's term.
The government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said the government is
trying to cut a deal with the speaker on the extension issue. Osman said the
Cabinet rejected the parliament's three-year extension, so what is needed is
a middle ground, possibly one-year extension for both bodies.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of minister's name to Abdishakur,
sted Abdishaku.)
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