Somali Senate faces sharp divide over Deputy PM Salah Jama’s ouster..

Somalia’s Upper House is grappling with internal divisions after Senate Speaker Abdi Hashi Abdullahi declared that Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama had lost his Senate seat due to repeated absences. Citing constitutional provisions, the Speaker announced that Salah’s four consecutive missed sessions automatically vacated his seat..

Ibrahim Suleiman Idle, who competed against Salah in the previous Senate election, has been proposed as the replacement, according to the rules laid out in Article 59(a) of the Provisional Constitution. In an official press release, the Speaker’s office referenced constitutional mandates requiring vacant seats to be filled by the next qualified candidate from the last election. Additionally, the 2016 Indirect Elections Agreement for seats representing Somaliland and northern regions was invoked.

However, several senators, led by Senator Osman Obokar Dubbe, have pushed back, arguing that Salah’s absences were due to national obligations tied to his role as Deputy Prime Minister. Dubbe accused the Speaker of overstepping his authority by attempting to oust Salah unlawfully, As a result of the pushback, the Speaker delayed the swearing-in of Ibrahim Suleiman Idle after the Upper House refused to vote on removing Salah Jama.

The impasse has left the status of the Senate seat unresolved, The dispute underscores broader tensions within Somalia’s political institutions, raising questions about the application of parliamentary rules and the authority of the Speaker in managing the Upper House.