afrol News, 13 December - Somalia's President Abdullah Yusuf has accepted the parliament's decision to sack the government, only 12 days after it was sworn in. The Nairobi-based parliament disagreed with the cabinet's composition and demanded its right to appoint the government.
A significant majority of Somalia's 275 members of parliament (MPs) on Saturday voted to oust the newly appointed government. The transitional parliament held that it had constitutional rights to approve the Somali cabinet. As the cabinet never had been presented parliament for approval, the MPs claimed it was illegitimate.
President Yusuf on 3 November had appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Ghedi to lead the transitional government. On 1 December, the Prime Minister in agreement with the President appointed the members of his cabinet. Parliament was not called to approve of Mr Ghedi or of his government.
The MPs further complained over the clan composition of Mr Ghedi's cabinet, something that was also voiced by five cabinet members leaving the government in protest last week. The transitional Somali parliament itself is mainly a product of a power sharing key between clans and clan leaders.
The transitional parliament was close to unanimous in its vote. Only five voted against the motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Ghedi and his cabinet. 184 MPs voted in favour.
President Yusuf on Saturday rejected parliament's no-confidence motion, saying it had been produced in dialogue with him and the government. Yesterday evening, however, the transitional President gave in to the demands of the MPs and accepted the sacking of the cabinet due to its lack of support in parliament.
The President is to name a new Prime Minister in the near future, probably the ousted Mr Ghedi. There were no signs that the parliamentarians disapproved of Mr Ghedi as Somalia's Prime Minister. He will however need to cooperate closely with the majority of MPs to select a new cabinet that can gather approval.
The sacking of the Somali cabinet only 12 days after it was named is seen as a major setback for President Yusuf, who has tried to gather sufficient powers in the presidency to lead the country into a new era with a central government. The clear message from the clan-dominated parliament has been that the future governing of Somalia will require much power sharing.
The 12-day government of Mr Ghedi was the third attempt to create a Somali cabinet after central government collapsed in 1991. The two previous governments were products of some of the 13 peace initiatives in Somalia since 1991, but never managed to impose their control over significant parts of the country.
President Yusuf himself was elected by the Somali transitional parliament in Kenya in October and given the task to lead a transitional administration in preparation of a new constitution and general elections. The parliament and executive however still remain in Nairobi for safety reasons and because the Somali capital cannot accommodate them.
By staff writer
© afrol News