Hundreds of Somalis rallied in support of Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on Monday after he survived a confidence vote, narrowly averting the collapse of his fragile interim government.
Shouting his name and carrying placards reading: ”Long live Gedi’s government”, crowds of supporters marched in the provincial town of Baidoa, temporary seat of the administration. They later gathered outside his house, where he came out to thank them.
Gedi’s opponents fell short of the two-thirds majority they needed to censure him on Sunday, in a heated vote that sparked punches from some lawmakers.
”We are against those who brought a motion of no confidence,” Jamal Ali (19) said.
Money changer Abdirizak Hussein said: ”I’m supporting the prime minister and the government because I want peace to prevail.”
The Western-backed government, formed in 2004, is the 14th attempt at central rule in Somalia, which plunged into chaos in 1991 after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by warlords.
Gedi’s defeat would have caused the dissolution of the interim government’s executive, already in some disarray over the threat from an Islamist movement that controls the capital Mogadishu and a large part of southern Somalia.
The Islamists seized Mogadishu from United States-backed warlords in June, challenging the authority of the weak government.
Some had cast the attempted ouster of Gedi as a bid to create space for the Islamists to enter government in a power-sharing agreement. Such a deal is seen by many as the only way to avoid conflict in Somalia.
The two sides met for talks in Sudan last month but a second round of negotiations later broke down. Another session is slated for early next month.
”I don’t think it was wise to vote out the government. Even if it’s powerless, it’s the only one we have,” said trainee mason Mohamed Abdulkadir.
Surviving the censure gives Gedi a much-needed boost.
His executive began unravelling last week with the resignation of 18 ministers and assistant ministers, who said they were stepping aside to promote the peace talks.
Then gunmen shot dead a Cabinet minister outside a mosque on Friday, which sparked riots and ratcheted up tension in Baidoa. — Reuters