Somali parliament set to hold confidence vote on PM

Saturday, November 15, 2014

The Somali parliament is set to discuss a motion on Saturday to withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.

The session had been originally planned for Tuesday but it had been delayed after opposition MPs chanted against the move, prompting the parliament speaker to postpone the session indefinitely.

Last week, 165 MPs drafted a bill in the 275-member assembly withdrawing confidence from the premier, who fell out with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud last month over a cabinet reshuffle.

Earlier this month, the EU and the U.N. called on both the Somali president and his prime minister to put an end to their political differences.

Somalia has remained in the grip of on-again, off-again violence since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.

Earlier this year, the country appeared to inch closer to stability after government troops and African Union forces – deployed in the country since 2007 – drove Al-Shabaab group from most of its strongholds.

Source: World Bulletin