Somalia’s PM Khaire resigns after no-confidence vote by MPs

Mogadishu

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khaire resigned on Saturday after MPs passed a vote to impeach him.

As MPs voted on a no-confidence motion against him in Mogadishu, Khaire was on his way from Dhusamareb, the capital of Galmudug federal state where he had attended a conference on elections plan.

But MPs charged that he had failed on the very plan, delaying an election and failing to implement a constitutional review programme.

On Saturday evening, Khaire, a former oil executive and humanitarian aid worker, addressed the media where he announced his resignation.

“I have decided to be an example for the Somali people by resigning from the position I have held for the Somali people,” said PM Khaire.

SET GOOD EXAMPLE

While he argued that MPs had acted unconstitutionally, he said he was quitting the post to set a good example in leadership.

“Knowing that what happened in the parliament was illegitimate, away from the correct procedure for the removal of an executive, and it was not in the chamber’s agenda and neither consistent with the constitution, I have decided to leave the position I have been holding for the Somali people,” remarked the departing premier.

Following the closure of the parliamentary session, Speaker Mursal Abdulrahman announced the outcome of the vote.

“In a quorum of 178 legislators, the government lost the vote of confidence by 170," the speaker said.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, who accepted the outcome of the vote, appointed Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled to act as prime minister.