Battle lines drawn as Speaker and Deputies differ over Budget Committee

A new round of battles between Speaker Mohamed Mursal and his deputies are looming revisiting a similar script in March albeit shift of alliances and change of characters.

Two days after Mursal overruled his immediate deputy Abdiweli Mudey over the ‘disbandment’ of the Finance and Budget Committee, second deputy, Mahad Awad, who together with Mudey pushed for the dissolution of the committee has maintained their version of the story holds.

In a media address Monday, Awad said he does not recognise the committee and that parliament should move in fast to constitute a new one. Mursal declared Saturday the committee would remain and asked it to continue business.

“The Budget Committee should continue with its normal work and quickly complete the review of the 2017 budget and the 2019 budget before the end of 2019,” Mursal said. The speaker also lashed at the government asking it to keep off from any interference of parliament and its committees.

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Coming in the midst of an impeachment motion against President Farmaajo, the differences between Mursal on the one side and a combined force of Mudey and Awad could take an ugly turn akin to what happened in March when the Federal Government sought the ouster of then-Speaker Mohamed Jawari.

Awad, who together with Mudey enjoy the support of the Federal Government was during the March/April political battles in Jawari’s side as Mudey remained in the FGS camp. Jawari was ultimately humiliated and bowed out and in his place was the government’s choice-Mohamed Mursal who is now fending off pressure from the FGS following his sudden change of heart.

Awad has also maintained the impeachment motion is illegal since there is no constitutional to establish the legality of the motion as provided for by the Provisional Constitution.