Four Somali state leaders rally against impeachment of colleague president

Somali states of Jubaland, Puntland, Hirshabelle, and South West have jointly condemned the impeachment of the president of the Galmudug State Ahmed Haaf who lost his position after a parliamentary vote on Tuesday amid a political crisis.

The four states said in a statement that the quick acceptance of the impeachment by the federal government is due to Haaf’s backing of the Saudi-led faction of the Gulf crisis against Qatar, local media Radio Dalsan reported.

#Somalia regional states heads jointly call for nullification of Galmudug’s President Haaf Tuesday impeachment. pic.twitter.com/WIWMN7fyPY

— Yassin Juma (@Yassinjuma) September 27, 2017

“The misunderstanding between the Federal Government and the states over the Gulf issue has led to a targeted campaign by the Federal Government against Galmudug to remove the state president. The statement from the government is evidence of this move,” it said.

They called on the Federal Government to nullify the impeachment and re-instate Haaf.

The impeachment follows Ahmed Haaf’s statement on behalf of the state last week Tuesday supporting the Saudi-led faction and calling on the federal government to change its neutral position due to its good relations with the two Gulf states.

Ahmed Haaf was voted out a day after returning from a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“If the political crisis facing the country continues, coordination between the Federal Government and Federal Member States will deteriorate and this will significantly affect the war on terror,” the states of Jubaland, Puntland, Hirshabelle, and South West said.

Puntland and Hirshabelle had also supported the Saudi Arabia-UAE faction in the Gulf crisis since August.