Credit: avrupa.info.tr /  Joseph Borrell,  High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Joseph  Borrell, the European Union’s  foreign policy chief, accused Somalia’s Parliament of a “serious disrespect for the constitutional foundations of the country” in removing Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire from his post Saturday after legislagtors deemed him unfit for office.  Khaire was sacked after parliament voted overwhelmingly 170-8 no confidence in the Horn-of-Africa nation’s PM. There were reports that Khaire has been in a contentious dispute with President Mohamed over when to hold Somalia’s national elections. Borrell said the developments in the House of the People of Somalia regarding the prime minister  “represent a setback for Somalia and for the confidence of the European Union” in the progress of the nation.   Political observers say it is massive political stumbling block for Somalia because it came a few months before the country’s elections.

“The procedures under which a motion of no confidence in the cabinet was passed did not meet minimal constitutional requirements. This vote occurred a day after the conclusion of a much anticipated meeting between the President and Federal Member States at which it was agreed that consultations would follow and a further meeting would occur on August 15. These actions entail a serious disrespect for the constitutional foundations of Somalia, on which the European Union has been investing.”

-Joseph  Borrell, the European Union’s  foreign policy chief

Somalia Prime Minister Abruptly Removed From Office

Credit: Wikipedia Commons  /  Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, speaks during a meeting with AU delegation led by the Chairperson of the African Union Peace and Security Council, Ambassador Ndumiso Ntshinga. The delegation is on a day working visit in Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 23, 2017.

Khaire, a dual Somali-Norwegian citizen, was appointed prime minister on Feb. 23, 2017 by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo.   

European Union Will Review Somalia Parliament Vote Against Prime Minister

Borrell  also noted that “Somalia is still on a long journey of national recovery to become free of insecurity, free of debt and free to vote leaders into power.”  Borrell added that until that time, the leaders of the Somali nation bear a special responsibility to ensure that a consensus is achieved and maintained in national politics.

“The European Union will review carefully how these events have come to pass, who bears responsibility and to what extent they deviate Somalia from the progress it was making and to which it had committed itself to its international partners.”