Ahmed Hashi elected new speaker of Puntland State Assembly

Puntland State Assembly has elected Ahmed Ali Hashi as the new speaker of parliament replacing Said Hassan Shire who quit office two weeks ago shortly before he was impeached.

Hashi trounced his competitors Abdihakim Mohamed and Saeed Abdi Samatar garnering 41 votes out of a possible 65. Mohamed managed 22 votes while Samatar got 9 votes. In the first round, Hashi got 40 votes and emerged winner in the second beating his close rival Abdihakim Mohamed.

This comes less than two weeks after then speaker Saciid Hassan Shire resigned a day after Puntland president opened the 36th session of the parliament in Garowe town. About 40 MPs threatened to impeach the former speaker over allegations of strained relations with lawmakers and the executive.

Said Hassan Shire had been in office since 13th January, 2014 and he became the first speaker to step down.

Said Hassan Shire was elected to office in January 13, 2014 and has become the first speaker to step down before end of term in the history of regional state.

Puntland, a region in northeastern Somalia declared itself  semi-autonomous from Somalia in 1998 as fighting raged through the country. The first parliament was sworn in July 1998 and has since had four speakers. Hashi becomes the fifth.