Somali lawmakers said on Wednesday they plan to impeach the president in a mounting political crisis that could put the fledgling government on a violent collision course with one of the country’s clans.
The political turmoil endangers fragile gains against the Islamist al Shabaab insurgency and could derail the government of President Mohamed Abdullahi.Mohamed Farmajo took power earlier this year in a U.N.-backed process.
The Horn of Africa state’s parliament adjourned last week until the end of February, but some legislators want it to reconvene on an emergency basis, lawmaker .
Ninety-six lawmakers have asked the speaker to reopen the session so that the impeachment against the president kicks off. The president is accused of violation of the constitution, treason, destruction of the federal states and so on,” he said.
The letter had not yet been delivered to the speaker. There are 275 lawmakers and two-thirds would have to vote against the president to impeach him.
The motion follows a deadly raid on Sunday on the home of an opposition leader, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, who ran for the presidency against Farmajo. Somali security agents arrived at his house around midnight and engaged his guards in a firefight, killing five people.
The minister of security said Warsame resisted arrest and he would be charged with treason. He appeared in court on Tuesday but no warrant was shown for his arrest, a witness said. A Wednesday court hearing was postponed until Thursday.
The information minister did not return calls seeking comment. A statement from the security minister and attorney general said they were “investigating the crimes of Somalis who were involved in treason, terror and the destruction of government systems”.