Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” sanctioned Prime Minister Mohamed Roble by suspending some of his executive power, after it came to light he was seeking to deepen the ongoing political crisis by firing additional ministers and high ranking security leaders.
Roble’s attempted coup
In a statement from Villa Somalia, released yesterday, President Farmajo stripped almost all of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble powers, leaving him with limited executive powers to complete the elections.
Mr. Roble’s power grab, also called coup, stems from the May 1st presidential speech which granted the prime minister additional executive powers to give him the flexibility to conduct the long-awaited election.
Since then, progress has been made towards the elections, but the prime minister has started to challenge the president by approaching hostile entities, signing unauthorized deals, illegally dismissing and appointing state officials, abandoning laws approved by Parliament and grabbing presidential prerogatives.
The president’s current move is intended to keep the prime minister focused on the election and stop him from unlawfully seeking powers he is not constitutionally entitled.
Roble’s call for help
After the publication of the decree, Prime Minister Roble consulted the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Mohamed Mursal, who confirmed the president’s legitimacy to restrict his powers. The general public also supported President Farmajo’s decisive decree and believed it would be the end of the two-week standoff.
The presidential decree was a sobering moment for the prime minister, but instead of stepping back and reflecting, his office issued a lengthy statement explaining why he will continue with his defiance and citing articles of the constitution as arguments.
In his communiqué, Mr. Roble called on the international community to assist him in his challenge to the president’s order. European and American representatives in the fortified Halane compound in Mogadishu sent him African troops from AMISOM to escort him there for a meeting.
On the same night, news came the UK has called for closed-door UN Security Council consultations on Somalia political crisis. The UNSC issued a press release on the crisis today calling both sides to refrain from escalating the situation.
Also, for the first time since Roble’s attempt to seize more executive powers, all Somali regional states leaders issued a joint statement calling for calm and announced a meeting on the crisis in Garowe on September 21.
Djibouti at the rescue
In a sign to assist the cornered prime minister, this morning Former NISA chief Fahad Yasin was briefly detained at the Djibouti Airport for unknown reason. Djiboutian authorities later tweeted the Turkish flight Fahad and other Somali officials were boarding was ordered back to Istanbul, adding they will have to take a different route to Mogadishu.
It is believed Djibouti interference is to prevent the now President Farmajo’s National Security advisor from participating in the National Security Council meeting scheduled tomorrow in Mogadishu. Fahad Yasin was expected to present evidence about Ikran Tahlil disappearance.
This meeting called by the president a week ago would have dispelled many inaccuracies relayed by the media, including Prime Minister Roble’s arguments for sacking senior security officials.
