Somali premier resigns amid spat with president

MOGADISHU - Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke resigned Tuesday over tensions with the conflict-hit country’s president.

“After political crises in the government and after I have seen that insecurity in Somalia has increased, I decided to leave my position as prime minister for the sake of the Somali people,” he told reporters in the presidential palace.

His resignation came after a meeting with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden.

Sheikh Sharif welcomed the decision, which he called “courageous”.

Sharmarke has been under pressure to resign as part of an ongoing power struggle for months, and was to be the subject of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

The president fired his premier in May, only to backtrack in the face of Sharmarke’s refusal to leave his post.

The two had disagreed over a new draft constitution. The president wanted the draft to be voted on by the public, while Sharmarke wanted parliament to pass the draft.

The premier’s resignation is not expected to change the situation in Somalia, which is embroiled in a bloody insurgency.

The weak Western-backed government is penned into a few areas of Mogadishu by Islamist militants, who control much of south and central Somalia.

Sheikh Sharif and Sharmarke, the Western-educated son of a respected Somali leader assassinated in 1969, raised hopes of peace in Somalia when they came to power in early 2009.

However, Islamist insurgent group al-Shabaab continued its efforts to gain power unabated.

Over 21,000 people have died in the insurgency, which kicked off in early 2007.

The chaos-ridden Horn of Africa nation has not had an effective central government since 1991.