Bartamaha (Nairobi):- The United Nations’ top envoy for Somalia held talks with the president and parliament speaker Wednesday in a bid to defuse a row over the country’s proposed new premier, lawmakers said.

Augustine Mahiga held meetings at Mogadishu airport with President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden over a rift that has delayed the confirmation by parliament of the new premier’s appointment.

“The UN delegation met the president and the speaker in order to resolve the dispute between them,” MP Yasin Mohamed told AFP. Other lawmakers also confirmed the meeting.

Parliament had been scheduled to hold a much-delayed vote on the president’s appointment of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Wednesday but differences remained to be ironed out and the session was again postponed.

The prime minister nominee was appointed on October 14 to replace Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, who resigned following a dispute with the president.

The speaker instructed the vote should be by secret ballot but the president argued such a step would be a violation of the country’s charter.

“After the UN delegation left Mogadishu, the president and the speaker met and discussed ways of solving the crisis. I think they will bring this spat to an end,” the lawmaker said.

Yassin Mohamed also said that Mahiga had asked the two Somali officials to swiftly form a new government and outline their agenda for the remaining months of a transitional administration whose mandate is due to expire next year.

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Source:- Starafrica.

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