MOTION DAY: Jawari on the chopping board as Khaire remains wary
Lower House speaker Mohamed Jawari will today know if his stay as Speaker in the August House will anymore be tenable while Prime Minister Hassan Khaire will also waiting with baited breath in a month long theatre of musical chairs in Mogadishu.
MPs are this morning filing into the House as the city remains on lockdown since Tuesday evening. The lawmakers allied to Khaire will be casting the no-confidence motion against Jawari which Jawari has declared illegal and unconstitutional.
To unseat the Speaker, the pro-motion caucus will need at least 184 votes to meet the constitutional threshold.
The vote comes amid a re-ignited political crisis following revelations Tuesday by Jawari that President Mohamed Farmaajo had crossed the line from being a mediator to an active player in the political maelstrom that has raged on from early March.
Jawari claimed Farmaajo had severally asked him to resign since suspending the parliamentary sitting last Friday adding to similar frustrations by opposition lawmakers who accused the president of inaction despite having called for a truce.
The embattled Speaker said yesterday the President had sought his resignation ‘because you cannot work with the government.’
But today’s vote will not only be deciding the fate of Jawari-Khaire is also banking on this vote for a political life. A motion against Khaire has long been on the works and several MPs who have spoken to Goobjoog News have indicated Khaire is on the cue shortly after Jawari’s motion is disposed of.
Jawari yesterday whipped public opinion and challenged MPs to ‘defend the independence of the House’ in what he termed as assault by the executive. “I call on MPs not to be politically bankrupt. Each one of you represents at least 55,000 constituents. Your actions and decisions should reflect the interests of those people.’
To unseat the Prime Minister, article 109 of the Provisional Constitution sets a simple majority (50+1) which equals 138 MPs.
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