MP self-dealing and parliamentary dysfunction undermined Hussen’s government

Evidence

Challenges to Hussen’s government were numerous, but the most daunting challenge was the constant political games played by a third of the members of the National Assembly at any one time, whose primary objective was to secure personal benefits. The prime minister confronted two major political problems that were symptomatic of the political dysfunctionality in parliament. The first problem involved the Speaker of parliament, who was accused of incompetence in managing parliamentary affairs and malfeasance, and the second problem entailed the destabilizing and unprofessional behavior of a significant number of the MPs. These problems came to a head in the spring and early summer of 1966 and would ultimately shape the outcome of the country’s presidential election in 1967. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 864

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s causal narrative of why the democratic experiment collapsed by 1969.