Consultative meeting on impeachment to kick off this morning

The consultative meeting on the impeachment motion against Somali president Hassan Sheikh is scheduled to kick off today according speaker of federal parliament.

Federal parliament speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari said that meeting between the government and federal Mps would start on 10th October in a bid to resolve the differences.

“I would like to inform all pro-impeachment MPs who submitted the motion against the president to the office of the speaker to attend the consultative meeting which will kick off at 11:00 AM at the speaker’s office in Villa Hargeisa” said the speaker of the parliament.

The gathering was to held on 7th this month but was put off due to the absence Somali prime minister Omar Abdirashid who is current outside the country.

A day before the meeting was put off, the pro-impeachment MPs declared that they are still determined to impeach the president warning dialogue does not mean they have dropped the bid.

In a seven point statement released on 6th the MPs vehemently held to their position that the Speaker violated the constitution in dismissing the motion and called on him to reverse the decision as it was a recipe for lawlessness and disorder in the country.

“Our consent to dialogue must not be construed to mean end of the motion. The motion can only be terminated when the court rules against it.

Otherwise, the actual procedure is that the motion must be tabled before parliament for members to cast a vote,” read the statement in part.

In what has emerged to be a battle between the impeachment caucus and the speaker, the lawmakers have accused the speaker of not responding to their queries despite correspondence for clarification on the speaker’s reference for dismissal of the motion.

“We cannot accept dialogue with the speaker as long as he holds the view that the motion is dead. The MP’s position is that the motion must be referred to a competent court to decide on it,” said the MPs.

Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawaari last week struck down the motion noting that it did not meet the minimum legal threshold. But the MPs have come out fighting accusing the speaker of usurping the powers of court.

In his ruling, the speaker called for a consultative meeting between parliament, the president and the Prime Minister to dialogue and find a final solution to the impeachment headache.

The president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud this week in New York told the influential magazine Foreign Policy the motion lacked legal basis.

Therefore it is not clear whether the pro-impeachment MPs would attention the waving hand of the speaker.