Somali President Mohamed Abdullah Faramago appointed Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Khadr Gouled as head of the caretaker government, succeeding Hassan Ali Khairy, whose government lost the confidence of parliament.

A statement by the Somali presidency stated that Gouled will take over the caretaker government until the president appoints a new personality, who will succeed Khairi as prime minister within 30 days, according to the constitution.

According to the statement, the appointment of a caretaker head comes within the framework of enhancing the government's actions and avoiding a government vacuum until the appointment of a new prime minister.

The Somali parliament had announced earlier that it would withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Khairi and his government, with the approval of 170 deputies, in exchange for the rejection of 8 deputies.

On Saturday, the President of the National Assembly called on deputies to vote to withhold confidence from the Prime Minister, at a time when they were to continue their work on organizing the next general elections in 2021.

After the vote, the speaker of parliament said that "the president of the federal government of Somalia must, in accordance with the constitution, designate a prime minister and a government that paves the way for a general vote on the specified date."

Justification and goals

Among the reasons that the Speaker of the National Assembly justified the removal of the Prime Minister is "the government's failure to formulate a clear plan that paves the way for elections by universal suffrage in 2021".

The central government led by Vermaju does not control the entire Somali territory, and it faces a rebellion by the al Qaeda-linked youth group.

Somalia aims to organize elections by universal suffrage beginning in 2021, a challenge given the deteriorating security conditions.

In 2016, the country adopted an indirect election system in which some 14,000 tribal delegates participate to choose representatives. The last real democratic elections in Somalia were organized nearly half a century ago, in 1969.

Set and differences

Khairi, 52, was appointed at the end of February 2017 by the Somali President.

The dispute between Khairi and Varmajo intensified over whether the general elections scheduled for next February will be held as scheduled, as the Prime Minister was insisting on moving forward with them while the President preferred to postpone them.

The president's allies also accused Khairi of failing to deal with the security file in the country.

It is noteworthy that there are differences of views regarding the appropriate electoral model in the current period, where the Speaker of Parliament supports direct elections, while the Prime Minister prefers indirect elections.