Leader of Somaliland’s Upper House “Slammed” The Phone Down On President Rayal

Leader of Somaliland's Upper House "Slammed" The Phone Down On President Rayale

HARGEISA, Somaliland (Somaliland Globe) – Somaliland's political landscape is changing faster than anticipated. The speed of events over the past few days has inevitably created an atmosphere of uncertainty and apprehension generated by the unprecedented closure of the two Houses of Parliament by the police.

President Rayale called last night the leader of the Upper House, Suleiman Mohamoud Aden, to personally apologize to him for the closure of his House by the police yesterday, and asked him to reopen it.

Dahir R. Kahin (L), and Suleiman M. Adam

"Excuse me Mr. President! you have achieved your objective. You have unconstitutionally closed down both Houses of Parliament. We [members of the two Houses] are all in the same boat and I am not going to reopen this House," said Mr. Aden angrily and slammed the phone down on the president, according to eye witness accounts.

The President did not however offer the same apologies to Abdurrahman Abdillahi, the leader of the Lower House where the debate on the impeachment trial against the president was about to begin yesterday when a lawmaker, Abdurrahman Mohammed Jama nicknamed "The Strongman" who "blindly" supports the president began to wield a gun against another lawmaker from the opposition party in punch-up over the impeachment trial.

In the ensuing melee, armed policemen, acting under the direct orders of president Rayale, immediately stormed the parliament and kicked Members of Parliament out of the building. The police put padlocks on the front doors of both Houses of parliament.

At least seven MPs were physically manhandled and kicked out of the parliament building following their refusal to leave the premises, witnesses confirm.

"I want to tell the people of Somaliland that your parliament has been taken over by the army," the Speaker of the House, Abdurrahman Abdillahi told the BBC radio yesterday evening.

Today, the city of Hargeisa is crawling with armed police on the look out for angry people trying to protest against the closure of the two Houses of Parliament.

The time remaining for Rayale's presidency is fast running out: his mandate will expire in October; it is unlikely he will have a term extension and an impeachment trial hangs over his head.

Somaliland Globe