MOGADISHU –Somalia’s parliamentary speaker, Mohamed Osman Jawari, has officially confirmed his intention to resign on Wednesday.
Flanked by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo”, the speaker delivered a brief speech on Tuesday in which he apologized for his recent political scrap with the Executive.
“I just wanted to confirm to the president and to you that I will resign from (my) position tomorrow, Allah willing,” he said extending his apologies to the larger Somali public about the “sadness and despondency that existed in recent days.”
Wearing a black suit and yellow shirt, Jawari, who was visibly emotional, also thanked the public for their patience and incessant calls for compromise.
“I pulled out one sentence from your advice: ‘One of you should compromise,” he said.
Jawari, however, didn’t shy away from taking a dig at the Executive, even as President Farmajo stood at his right side.
“I want also to remind all that Somalia and the Somali government are bigger than all of us,” he said. “…. We’re a tender government, and we should feel mercy for and support it. It’s imperative to forget personal interests and focus on Somalia’s common good.”
Many Somalis suspect that the origin of the spat between the Executive and the speaker erupted after Jawari openly pushed for the passage of a recent vote aimed at taming foreign interferences.
The country’s parliament has recently rejected a deal signed by the United Arab Emirates and politicians from a northwestern region to set up a military base in Berbera town, on Indian Ocean, near Yemen, where the Emirates are establishing military presence in recent years.
“It is not right to see (Somalis) suffer further despondence and problem,” he said of his plan to resign, disclosing that he rejected offers from foreign countries to mediate between him and the Executive.
Jawari warned of a return to old days when other countries solved Somalia’s problems.
“We won’t accept the differences that take place in Somalia to be taken to the capitals of neighboring countries,” he said. “We have a parliament that represents the people that can reach the decision it wants. They’re – after Allah – the supreme power.
“Somali problems can be solved by Somalis,” he said. “I was against foreign interference and am against it now. And we won’t accept it. We can solve our difference by ourselves. Somalis — their lawmakers, their government and their leaders — know what is good for their public.”
Jawari also expressed his concern about any future differences between the legislature and the Executive, warning that political standoffs could ruin the country’s political and security gains.
“That is unbearable and unacceptable,” he said of political differences.
He thanked the youth for calling him to enquire about the best way out of the standoff.
“You, the youth, should know that the road to peace, security, understanding and compromise is always open,” he said. “So let’s prevent this tender government from going back.”
Jawari’s Tuesday speech was so short that it just took five minutes and 19 seconds, but he said he would deliver another speech expounding other issues on Wednesday when he will officially “return the responsibility and trust” to lawmakers.