Somali Police Chief Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar has been dismissed for "sabotaging" elections of the Somali lower house leadership, media reported on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2022) Somali Police Chief Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar has been dismissed for "sabotaging" elections of the Somali lower house leadership, media reported on Wednesday.
National news portal Garowe Online cited Security Minister Abdullahi Nor as saying that he dismissed Hijar for "attempting to block" the elections of parliamentary leadership and for "getting mixed" with politics. Nor added that Hijar repeatedly endangered lives of senior politicians throughout the elections period, and also accused him of being linked to the attempted raid carried out by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) against newly elected parliament members, who were taking the oath of allegiance at an airport earlier this week. Nor also said that Hijar had insisted on postponing the elections due to inability to ensure security.
The elections to the country's lower house were to be held from October 1 to November 20, 2021, but had been postponed several times. Some of the lawmakers were elected; however, the process has yet to be completed. The presidential election in Somalia, which was to be held last year, is expected to be held soon after the elections of the house leadership completed.
Somalia collapsed as a unified nation in 1991 with the downfall of Siad Barre's dictatorship. The international community recognized the Federal government as the only legitimate authority in the country, which controls the capital Mogadishu and several other areas. The rest of Somalia is controlled by self-governed or unrecognized state entities, including the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland in the north and the autonomous Puntland region in the northeast.
