Sharmarkee broke permanently with Hussen over a radio speech

Evidence

Sharmarkee, the former prime minister, did not come out openly in opposition to the new regime, and he went on a trip to Europe during the final vote, but he worked behind the scenes to convey his displeasure. Yusuf Egal, Sharmarkee’s ally, invited the two men to dinner to help patch up their friendship. Hussen offered Sharmarkee, once again, whatever cabinet post he desired. But the former prime minister was in no mood for niceties. Instead, he expressed his anger over some of the contents of Hussen’s first public speech on Radio Mogadishu in which he associated, Sharmarkee claimed, the former regime with corrupt and clannish ways. Hussen contested this and asserted that his written and oral speech specifically promised to attempt to curb corruption. A second meeting was arranged between the two but made no progress in bridging the gulf. From then on, Hussen was firmly in the opposition. He rarely attended parliamentary sessions. He spent his days on Lido beach reading Italian novels and making rare appearances in parliament to cast a crucial vote. At Lido, he was visited by disgruntled MPs. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1423

Categorization

• XREF: Egal acting as mediator maps onto his later controversial premiership role in Somali politics.