Hiiraan Online
Ahmed Abdisamad
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Somali president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has rejected the exclusion of a section of MPs in the new Somali parliament. In a press conference he held in Mogadishu, Sharif Ahmed re-iterated only high court has the mandate to disqualify members of parliament in what seems to be another political turmoil in the country.
"No one has been convicted by a court, therefore we referred the case to the high court and it will decide it”, said the president.
Sharif Ahmed says he made this decision, after consultations with the prime minister Abdiwali Mohamed Ali and the former speaker of the assembly Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden .
But other reports indicate that these three members of the new parliament (Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Abdiwali Mohamed Ali and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden) had a meeting to discuss on the exclusion of MPs, but failed to reach a consensus on the matter.
The Somali Technical Selection Committee (TSC) disqualified more than 40 nominated members of parliament because of their alleged involvement in the civil war.
Reports say high court judges summoned the Technical Selection Committee to determine the case today.
The TSC was tasked with conducting background checks on prospective parliamentary candidates before they are approved to become members of the legislative body.