Somalia's long-running political crisis escalated on Monday as the president announced that he was suspending Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, who blasted the move as unconstitutional.
The announcement came a day after Roble accused President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmajo, of sabotage of the polls.
On Monday, Farmajo's office said the president had decided to suspend Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and stop his powers because he was accused of interfering with a probe into a land-grabbing case.
Roble accused Farmajo of trying to take over the office of prime minister by force in a move that violates the constitution and the law of the country The prime minister. The statement released by Roble's office said the country is committed to not being deterred by anyone in his national duties in order to lead the country to elections that pave the way for peaceful power transfer.
Despite a heightened military presence around the prime minister's office, Roble was still able to enter the premises, a day after Farmajo withdrew his mandate to organise the elections and called for the creation of a new committee to correct the shortcomings.
The two men have been accused in recent days of being accused of trying to influence a scandal involving army-owned land after the premier sacked the defence minister and replaced him on Sunday, with Roble alleging that Farmajo did not want to hold a credible election.
The prime minister has called on the defence minister to divert the investigations into the case relating to the grabbed public land, according to a statement by Farmajo's office on Monday.
The dispute caused international observers to urge Somalia's leaders to take immediate steps to deescalate tensions, according to the US embassy in Mogadishu. The elections in Somalia have been hampered by delays for several months.
In April, pro-government and opposition fighters opened fire in the streets of Mogadishu after Farmajo extended his term without holding fresh elections.
The constitutional crisis was defused when Farmajo reversed the term extension and Roble brokered a timetable to a vote.
The election was again hampered by a bitter rivalry between the men in the months that followed.
Farmajo and Roble agreed to only bury the hatchet in October and issued a unified call for the glacial election process to accelerate.
Somalia's elections follow a complex indirect model. Nearly 30,000 clan delegates are assigned to elect 275 MPs for the lower house, while five state legislatures elect senators for the upper house.
Both houses of parliament vote for the next president.
The elections for the upper house have concluded in all states and voting for the lower house began in early November.
The election of a president seems to be a long way off, straining ties with Western allies who want to see the process reach a peaceful conclusion.
The US State Department said on Sunday it was deeply concerned by the continuing delays and procedural irregularities that have undermined the credibility of the process. Analysts say the election impasse has distracted from Somalia's larger problems, most notably the Al-Shabaab insurgency.
The Al Qaeda allies were driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago, but they still retain control of swathes of the countryside and continue to stage deadly attacks in the capital and elsewhere.