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Armed Standoff at Somali Parliament Amid Move to Oust Speaker Crisis Averted in Somalia’s Parliament but Tensions Simmer
(about 7 hours later)
NAIROBI, Kenya — A police contingent loyal to a top opposition leader in Somalia took over Parliament for several hours on Wednesday, pushing a growing political rift to the brink of armed confrontation. NAIROBI, Kenya — A dispute between the speaker of the Somali Parliament and the country’s president briefly threatened on Wednesday to turn violent, the latest development in a complex controversy over the proposed leasing of a major port to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates.
Parliamentary police officers loyal to Mohamed Osman Jawari, the Parliament speaker, disrupted a no-confidence vote against him early Wednesday. The police lined up to block the speaker’s podium, and lawmakers who support Mr. Jawari accused other legislators of taking money to vote against the speaker, chanting, “Down with bribetakers!” Conflict was avoided, partly because of the efforts of an African Union soldier, but the dispute also highlighted the fragility of the federal government under the leadership of its new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known by the nickname Farmajo, who was elected last year in a process marred by corruption.
Supporters of the no-confidence motion said the parliamentary police had refused to let them inside the building. Mr. Mohamed leads a weak federal government that is trying to wield power and influence over six states, while the Shabab, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, regularly challenges its rule with acts of terrorism.
In response, state security forces loyal to President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who is known as Farmajo, deployed outside the Parliament building, raising fear that tensions between the two men could erupt into an armed confrontation between the forces loyal to them. Last year, Somaliland, a stable and semiautonomous region in the country’s north, signed a deal with DP World, a port management company based in the Emirates, to operate the port of Berbera.
Senior security officials said Mr. Jawari and his armed men had entered the Parliament by force. Mr. Jawari denied the claim, saying he had arrived with less than a dozen personal bodyguards — too few, he said, “to seize our Parliament.” Somaliland considers itself an independent country, and Somaliland officials negotiated the deal directly with DP World.
Mr. Jawari has been at odds with Somalia’s president since mid-March, when the speaker mustered a usually fractious Parliament to vote unanimously against a foreign investor. The signal of Mr. Jawari’s political strength, and of parliamentary independence, surprised and scared the president. But lawmakers in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, objected, saying that bypassing federal officials violated the sovereignty of Somalia.
A move for a no-confidence vote against Mr. Jawari followed, but it, too, was delayed by a security standoff: Parliamentary police officers were dismissed and replaced with people believed to be loyal to the president. Mr. Jawari’s supporters said the security change sought to intimidate the opposition. In March, Parliament voted unanimously to cancel the deal, in a motion that the speaker, Mohamed Osman Jawari, presided over.
Mr. Jawari said at a news conference last month that the effort to oust him was intended to “dismantle the Parliament,” which he said has been “under attack by the executive branch.” The bill, which included language that forbids any foreign investment contracts without approval by the Parliament, was put forward without input from the president or prime minister. Observers said the vote was a sign of the growing political strength of Mr. Jawari.
Pro-Jawari lawmakers said on Wednesday that delays made any vote on the no-confidence measure unconstitutional. Allies of the president and the prime minister put forward a no-confidence motion against Mr. Jawari, which has twice been delayed for security reasons. On Wednesday, Mr. Jawari’s backers accused opponents of having accepted money to vote against the speaker. “Down with bribetakers!” they chanted.
Soldiers from the Somali National Army, as well as officers from the Presidential Guard and the intelligence services, joined African Union troops to secure the area and protect the lawmakers locked outside. Parliamentary police officers loyal to Mr. Jawari lined up to protect the speaker’s podium.
Soldiers from Danab, the Somali special forces contingent trained by the United States, were also deployed to secure the Parliament. In response, state security forces loyal to the president deployed outside Parliament, raising fear that tensions between the two men could lead to violence.
Soldiers from Danab, a Somali special forces contingent trained by the United States, were also deployed to secure the Parliament.
The standoff ended after Paul Lokech, who leads a Ugandan contingent of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, brokered a deal between Mr. Jawari and Mr. Mohamed to talk through the dispute.
“They need to dialogue and get their problems sorted out,” Mr. Lokech said in a telephone interview. “That’s what we agreed upon.”
The port deal is one illustration of the growing disruption that an international dispute has created in domestic Somali politics.
That rift has pitted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are major trading partners with Somalia, against Qatar, whose financial support was widely seen as critical factor in Mr. Mohamed’s victory in last year’s presidential election.
The vote against the DP World deal further strained relations between Somalia and the Emirates, which wants to see Mr. Mohamed distance himself from his Qatari patrons and their allies.
“The Emiratis are waging a campaign against Farmajo,” said Joshua Meservey, a senior policy analyst on Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation. “Farmajo has refused to join an embargo against Qatar, and that has really angered the Saudis and the Emiratis. They just don’t think Farmajo is playing ball as he should.”
Mr. Jawari said at a news conference last month that the effort to oust him was intended to “dismantle the Parliament,” which he said has been “under attack by the executive branch.” His supporters, meanwhile, said that the government’s dismissal of parliamentary police officers during the political dispute was meant to intimidate the opposition.
“The president and prime minister want a Parliament that works for them and that doesn’t hold them accountable,” said Abdirisak Omar Mohamed, an opposition lawmaker. “That’s why they want Speaker Jawari gone. They know he is the only one we trust to lead an independent Parliament.”