Legislators approve enlargement of parliament

Somalia's parliament met in neighbouring Djibouti on Monday and approved the enlargement of the parliament to include members from the opposition.

Before voting began, Djibouti’s representative to the Somali peace talks and the minister for Justice Hamid Abdi Sultan urged Somali lawmakers to show a great responsibility to safe the war-weary Somali people from renewed civil war.

“Two hundred and twenty lawmakers have participated in today’s meeting, 211 of them agreed to enlarge the parliament, 6 rejected while 3 abstained, so the parliament is extended from now on and recently 275 members from the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) will join us� the speaker and acting president Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nor told lawmakers on Monday

Lawmakers are expected to vote later today on a motion to delay the presidential vote and double the number of parliamentary seats from 275.

The international community has been urging Somalis to settle their differences, expand the parliament and elect a new president.

Moderate Islamist opposition leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced his candidacy on Sunday.

At least 16 candidates in total have declared an interest in succeeding President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, but the opposition nominated Sheik Sharif as the only candidate for the nation’s presidency.

Following negotiations organised by the UN in Djibouti, members of the Transitional Federal Government agreed to include 200 new lawmakers from the ARS and 75 from civil society groups.

Under the constitutional charter, a new Somali president should be chosen by parliament within 30 days of the resignation of the last one, who quit on 29 December.

In other news there is a tense situation in Badoa, the seat of the transitional parliament after the Ethiopian troops withdrew early on Monday.

Ethiopia said its troops who rolled into the country in late 2006 to back a weak transitional government against an Islamist insurgency completely pulled out of Somalia.

Somalia | Politics | |