Sheik Adan Mohamed Madoobe, speaker of the Somali national parliament, called on lawmakers on Monday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, to return to the southern Somali town of Baidoa, the seat of the legislative body, "in order to save the country and the government".
Most of the Somali parliamentarians have remained in Nairobi following a meeting there in late October with leaders of the regional body, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), on the situation of Somalia.
The meeting called by IGAD was attended by all Somalia's top leaders including the entire parliament and heads of state and government of the regional body, but since the end of the meeting,few lawmakers have returned to Somalia because of lack of adequatefunds or for security considerations.
"The deputies should all return to Baidoa in order to save the country and the government," Madoobe told reporters in Baidoa. "You have been hearing what was going on in Nairobi. That is not good for the country and the people who want us to bring peace and stability."
The call by the speakers came as the rift between Somali's top leaders widens after their failure to form a government.
On Saturday, Somali President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed told lawmakers in Nairobi that there were "no functioning government" in the country which he said was mostly controlled by Islamist insurgents.
The president refused to endorse a list of ministers appointed by Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. He described the new ministers as "destructors".
In their October meeting, the IGAD leaders issued recommendations for Somali officials to form a government within fifteen days, which expired last Wednesday, and urged them to draft a constitution for the war-torn country during the remaining ten months before the Somali government transitional term expires.
Source:Xinhua
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