Wednesday December 15th, 2004 15:07
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 15, 2004 (PANA) -- Despite the Somali parliament's rejection of Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Ghedi's cabinet, interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed reluctantly agreed to re-appoint the beleaguered head of government to the post.
Ghedi, who was sacked alongside his cabinet of 77 ministers by parliament two days ago just when he was preparing to introduce his government's re-location plan to the House, was re- appointed to the post even though the lawmakers, some of whom accused him of high-handedness, were far from being pleased with the move.
The government, sworn-in less than two weeks ago, Tuesday received a mixed reaction from lawmakers when it became apparent that Yusuf had re-appointed Ghedi to lead it.
A cross-section of the MPs said they were ready to approve the appointment as long was the Somali transitional constitution is strictly adhered to, while others said Ghedi needed time for thorough consultations to lower the current tension among the lawmakers.
The sponsors of the motion of no confidence said the interim premier's new cabinet must be "viable, small in number and highly qualified."
Legislator Ali Dasha, a key political powerbroker and a co-sponsor of the vote which stripped Ghedi of his job, said the interim premier was required to carry out ground work "by meeting MPs to ensure that "high tension among them is lowered before parliament can ratify his appointment."
"As things stand now, the MPs are still bitter and I don't think they can give him a confidence vote," Dasha said.
The MPs, in passing a vote of no confidence in his government, accused Ghedi of violating the constitution by failing to seek a vote of confidence himself within 30 days of his appointment the president as stipulated by the interim constitution.
The lawmakers also said Ghedi had ignored clan quotas when appointing ministers and that his cabinet of nearly 80 was too large for a country emerging from 14 years of a bruising civil war.
Yusuf, to save the situation of his troubled appointee, held a series of emergency cabinet meetings in Nairobi, while still questioning the legitimacy of the vote that dissolved Ghedi's government.
The president charged that the vote was passed during an illegal session when parliamentary sittings were officially adjourned.
But the fact is that the session came to an abrupt end when the Kenyan police moved in to rescue the Speaker of Parliament, Shariff Aden Mohammed, who was besieged by six ministers who argued that passing the vote was illegal.
While the interim leader told the lawmakers they had to take seriously what is seen as the best chance in 14 years to form a government, others vehemently maintained that a violation of the constitution was serious enough to warrant radical corrective measures such as a vote of no confidence.
Yusuf re-appointed Ghedi Monday night, saying: "It is up to you (MPs) to take it seriously or take it as a joke. I am telling you that all of you cannot be ministers or deputy ministers.
"If we are not serious about making a functioning government, let us go home without disturbing the international community, which funded the two years of peace talks here," he said.
The rejection of Ghedi's government came two days after five deputy ministers and one State Minister in the Prime Minister's office resigned in protest, saying they were unwilling to serve in a bloated cabinet, which will end up lavishly spending donor funds on logistical support for the executive at the expense of other important national reconstruction projects such as disarmament.
The new government included warlords, clan leaders and technocrats and was expected to establish the first effective central government since 1991.
It is expected that Ghedi will make some changes to his cabinet line-up before the whole team is put to a vote of confidence in parliament once again.
MPs who brought the no confidence vote said during the peace process, the four major clans were given an equal number of MPs, with minor clans together getting half the number of seats.
No date has been set for the new Somali government's to return to the capital, Mogadishu, which is still divided between rival warlords.
The international community has adopted a wait and see attitude and expect to see what the 275-member transitional parliament will do next. But whether the lawmakers will put their differences aside and heed the President's plea and approve Ghedi's new appointees remains to be seen.
Ghedi has promised to appoint a leaner government within days.