Constitutional Review to Top Agenda as Parliament Resumes
GOOBJOOG NEWS/MOGADISHU: The 5th session of the Federal Parliament opens today with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expected to deliver a keynote speech on major developments in the country including the ongoing row with Ethiopia and the constitutional review process.
Lawmakers will be expected to continue the debate on the constitutional review process. In particular, parliament will start with Chapter 5 of the provisional constitution following the completion of the first four chapters in the last session.
Going by the pace of the previous session, lawmakers will likely complete Chapter 5 on devolution, Chapter 6 on Federal Parliament, Chapter 7 which covers the presidency and Chapter 8 on the executive.
Critical also for parliament will be a debate on the talks between Somalia and Ethiopia regarding the controversial MoU that Ethiopia signed with the break-away region of Somaliland in January.
The talks which opened last week in Ankara with the mediation of Turkey reached a deal for a resolution of differences through dialogue. However, Somali government stood its ground on the need for Ethiopia to withdraw the MoU.