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.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire was removed from his post Saturday after Parliament deemed him unfit for office. Khaire was sacked after legislators voted overwhelmingly 170-8 no confidence in the Horn-of-Africa nation’s PM. Khaire, a dual Somali-Norwegian citizen, was appointed prime minister on Feb. 23, 2017 by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo.   There were reports that Khaire has been in a contentious dispute with President Mohamed over when to hold Somalia’s national elections.

“After learning that the government had failed in its promise to prepare a clear plan that paves the way for one-person-one-vote elections in 2021… parliament undertook a vote of no confidence against the government and its prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire,”

-Speaker of the House Mohamed Mursal told reporters.

The speaker of the house added that  “The president of the federal government of Somalia… will appoint a prime minister and a government which will pave the way for elections.”  

Waxaan dalkeyga iyo dadkeyga ugu adeegayay daacadnimo iyo hufnaan anigoo aaminsan inay aheyd waajib dalkeyga iga saaran pic.twitter.com/kQfTDeo0Ss

— Hassan Ali Khaire (@HassanAKhaire) July 25, 2020

Jihadist  group Al-Shabaab Remains Threat To Somalia Security: UN Envoy

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times  /  James Swan, head of the United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), speaks at the International Peace Institute forum in New York City February 25, 2020  discussion of Somalia’s recent progress and immediate future.

Meanwhile, terrorist, jihadist  group Al-Shabaab retains the ability to conduct large scale attacks in the Horn of Africa nation Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu.  James Swan, head of the UN Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), warned the UN Security Council in February that Al-Shabaab remains a dangerous, unrestrained threat.  “2020 has the potential to be a trans-formative year for Somalia. Last October at the Somalia Partnership Forum, Somalia and its international partners agreed the main priorities on which Somalia ‘must not fail’ in 2020. These include achieving debt relief, holding one person one vote elections, finalising the federal constitution, advancing the fight against al-Shabaab, and consolidating the federal state.”