Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble removed two members from the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT) on Tuesday and issued a stern warning to several members, accusing the electoral committee members of derailing the swearing-in-process.
Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Irro and Abdirahman Abdiaziz Aden, two of the most outspoken committee members opposed to FEIT’s official list of parliamentary members, were replaced by the PM.
Irro was the former FEIT chairman before being ousted in late December by a near-unanimous vote by the 18-person committee. The PM says that Irshad Mohamud Sheikh Dahir will replace Irro on the federal election commission.
Abdirahman Abdiaziz Aden, FEIT’s Secretary-General, has also been sacked from the board and will be replaced by Hassan Ali Yusuf.
“The Prime Minister is aware of the irregularities that have taken place in recent days, which were intended to disrupt the implementation of the FEIT Committee swearing-in of MPs which shows the willingness of some offices to prevent the completion of the election,” the PM’s statement reads in part.
PM Roble also issued a “final warning” to five additional committee members – Yusuf Abdikheyr Abdinur, Abdinasir Mohamed Guled, Abdijabbar Abdullahi Farah, Ahmed Adan Dagaal, and Sadiyo Hassan Hussein – from interfering in the certification process.
PM Roble affirmed that newly elected lawmakers would be sworn into office in Mogadishu on April 14 and has invited MPs on the FEIT official list of elected parliamentarians to the capital to receive the certification papers.
