Somalia: President suspends prime minister amid election dispute
Somalia's elections have been untenable amid political disputes, as fears of Al-Shabab attacks rise ahead of Somalia's delayed elections.
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Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed stated Monday that Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble had been suspended, a day after the two men clashed over the country's long-delayed elections.
The office of the president said in a statement that "the president decided to suspend Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and stop his powers since he was linked with corruption".
As Somalia tries to hold elections, the latest development is creating new concerns about the country's stability.
The Somalian authorities had scheduled October 10 for the presidential elections; however, the dispute between the president and the prime minister prevented the elections from happening.
What's behind the dispute?
The disagreement between the leaders occurred in April when the president extended his four-year term for another two years, leading the military factions in support of either leader to take over the other party's locations in Mogadishu. The situation prompted violent confrontations that threatened security in the country.
Simultaneously, Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble agreed to speed up the process for long-delayed elections, putting an end to the issue that put Somalia on the verge of crisis.
Both leaders had been engaged in a battle over who should replace the director of the intelligence service following his suspension over his handling of a high-profile probe into the disappearance of a young intelligence agent.
However, they both issued a joint statement, in which they said they had "agreed to accelerate the election process by calling on the federal member states to start the election of the (lower house of) parliament in the next couple of weeks."
However, a dispute between the two has postponed the election once more in the months afterward.
Fears of Al-Shabab Attacks Rise
Analysts warn that the internal dispute between the two leaders might hinder the effort of the Somalian government in fighting Al-Shabab movement.
Al Shabaab movement, which is allied to Al-Qaeda, was driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago but eventually seized control of large areas of countryside and continue to conduct deadly attacks in the capital and elsewhere.
