Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdelrashid Ali Sharmarkeh on Tuesday announced his resignation following months of growing rift with the Somali president.
In a joint press conference, with President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister Sharmarkeh, said he made his decision to avert collapsed of the federal institutions of Somali government and defuse further differences within the government.
The Somali president for his part accepted the decision of the premier and thanked him as well as the speaker of the Somali parliament who he said was instrumental in bringing an end to the rift within the two top government leaders.
The president said that he will appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible who will in turn form a government of national unity.
The resignation of the Somali prime minister comes after rift with the president over the drafting a new constitution for the country as required by the transitional federal charter which stipulates that the new Somali constitution be drafted before end of the transitional term of the current government which is only a year away.
The Somali parliament last week called on the government of Sharmakeh to seek a vote of confidence from the parliament following a motion pushed by dozens of lawmakers who accused the government of failing to fulfill its responsibilities, a charge vehemently denied by the government.
The transitional government was formed following the Djibouti reconciliation talks resulted in the election of the moderate Islamist-leaning Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as the president in early 2009 but the radical opposition groups refused to accept and have been fighting the government since.
Islamist groups, who control much of south and centre of Somalia, have been carrying out deadly insurgency against the government which under the protection of 6,000 African Union peacekeeping troops run only few parts of the restive capital.