Abdi Hashi, the Speaker of the Senate (Upper House) has declared the recent appointment of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) an act that “fails the legal test.”
Recently, it was revealed that President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo had appointed seven new members to join JSC.
Those he appointed include the current Chairperson of the Somali Supreme Court and the Attorney General.
However, the fact that Farmaajo made the appointments without consulting the Upper House has not gone down well with Speaker Hashi and other influential political leaders.
Speaker Hashi accused Farmaajo of acting “unilaterally.”
Hashi reminded Farmaajo that his appointments are a “gross violation of the law and constitution of the country.”
Speaker Hashi has been one of Farmaajo’s biggest critics.
In Hashi’s view, the appointments were approved by a cabinet led by Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Gulaid.
At the time, the House of Representatives (Lower House) had passed a vote of no confidence against the then Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
Consequently, Hashi believes that the appointments had no legal basis since parliament had already dismissed the cabinet.