President Riyale "Planning to Depose Speaker Of Guurti"
President Riyale and Mr. Adam
HARGEISA (The Somaliland Globe) - A second attempt in as many weeks to remove the leader of the House of the Guurti from power is under way in Somaliland. A group of Guurti members, known to be staunch supporters of President Riyale, told reporters in Hargeisa "they want change the law to make it easier to remove the Guurti leader [Mr. Suleiman M. Adam]" although they did not give reasons for their actions.
Other reports indicate they had series of meetings with Riyale before launching their second attempt to oust the leader of the Guurti. It is widely believed the reason for wanting to remove Mr. Adam is because Riyale wants the Guurti's unquestionable support should election disputes arise in the upcoming presidential elections. Some members of the opposition political parties also accused Riyale of trying to replace Mr. Adam because he is not willing to help him postpone the elections due in less than seven weeks.
Mr. Muse Bihi of KULMIYE party told reporters "Riyale does not consider the stability of the country as paramount if in fact he is behind the attempts to remove the leader of the Guurti in an election year".
Mr. Muse Bihi said the stability of the country was considered very important during transition year, adding "that is why Somaliland constitution dictates" we hold the presidential and Guurti elections years apart as replacing them in the same year could be destabilizing to the country.
The group behind this latest move wants to table a motion to modify the law to require a simple majority vote instead of its current requirement of two-thirds majority to remove the leader. Although the majority of the unelected Guurti are UDUB members and close to Riyale, they are currently unable to muster the required two-thirds majority. A previous attempt to table a similar motion failed.
As election date approaches, the three political parties, KULMIYE, UCID and UDUB selected and submitted their candidates for the upcoming election to the Electoral Commission before tomorrow's deadline. The names do not include any surprises as all three party leaders were renominated, however, the two running mates of UCID and KULMIYE opposition parties are new.
Two of the parties, UCID and UDUB, held their conferences within the last three weeks. KULMIYE party selected its candidates last year in a longer more complicated process that many considered was the most transparent of the three parties.
UDUB's selection process and its nomination of the incumbent as president and vice-president, was criticized by long term members of the party as an undemocratic because the vice-president, himself a candidate for the nomination, was chairing the committee selecting the candidates which presents an apparent conflict. The members of the committee were themselves named by President Riyale. Those critical of the process included three former Ministers of his cabinet who sought to compete against him within UDUB party but were denied invitations and access to the conference hall area which was heavily guarded by security forces. Their efforts to setup a rival conference were also derailed when numerous privately owned hotels in Hargeisa refused to host the rival conference. Local sources said the government ordered them not to host a rival UDUB conference.
UDUB is embroiled in numerous problems and could face a tougher reelection this time around compared to 2003 when the High Court decided the disputed election in its favor. The party has been plagued by numerous resignations, defections as well as expulsions from the party of important members some of whom were members since the party was established by the late President Egal.
The leader of the Guurti, Mr. Adam, who is also a member of UDUB party, was a strong supporter of Riyale and was instrumental in Riyale's election in 2003. The two had fallen out over the past year and Riyale is believed to have been seeking his replacement.
The House of Guurti is the upper house of Parliament. Although its members should have been elected, that has not happened as Riyale is believed to favour to extend their term rather than allow elections. His opposition to support Guurti elections became clear when the vice-President defended extending Guurti's time citing lack of necessary resources to hold elections. A major factor for their decision, may however be due to the ruling party's loss of its majority in the lower Parliament when its members were elected for the first time in 2005. The Guurti is also important to him as it single-handedly passed last year a bill that allowed Riyale to stay in power for one more year without standing for reelection after his elected term ended in April last year.
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