Today, a man who had high hopes of one day becoming the president of the republic of Somaliland, the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro”, dismally fell off his pedestal with a most deafening ‘thud’ after using violence against his first Deputy, Bashe Mohamed Farah, in full presence, sight of House members and the media at a session he chaired.
The Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker were no able to agree on the procedure of opening of this morning’s session which resulted in fists and knee-blows exchanged watched by a dumb-stricken house.
According to eye-witnesses and a footage that was captured of the event, the House Speaker smacked a packed fist on the Deputy’s face and the fracas went to a full throttle.
“The Speaker should have declared the session closed to resolve the difference between the members of the Chair,” one of the Parliamentarians later lamented. “There was absolutely no cause for physical violence,” he said, citing previous occasions and issues that were more heated and more vociferous resulting in no fist fights.
What a few people noticed, however, was that the fighting was a collective one and a pre-planned one.
The Chairman of the House’s Standing Committee, Mr. Ibrahim Buubaa, was seen standing on embers spoiling for a fight. Mr. Buubaa has since his joining the parliament become notorious for fist fights to sway issues to his mold or else end it by any means under his disposal.
In another scene, a nephew of the Speaker and an avowed Waddani supporter, running the Party’s media wing, Mr. Urad, is seen crushing the Deputy Speaker in a bear hug with firm – and very visible – stranglehold. This, by itself is against all Somali customs as the other man happened to be not only his Chairman at the party but his close uncle.
A fourth, a former Khat narcotics seller in London, applauds from his seat!
In either case, today’s boxing matched jump-started by the Speaker of the House, and, hitherto, a contender for the Presidential position as the leader and Chairman of Waddani – one of two national, opposition parties as it is not, also, the first time he manifests attitudes and behavior very unbecoming of a national leader.
What makes today’s issue so much worse is that three men, hailing from the same sub-clan, gang against one man egged on by heckling fellow party members and kinsmen in same House.
Watch a clip of the fight here:
S Abdurahim
Suleiman.abdurahim@gmail.com
