Somalia, Politics, 9/16/2004
The interim Somali parliament elected Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden as its speaker in the second round of voting after none of the 11 candidates won the post by a two third majority, according to the Somali constitution.
Aden won over his rival Sheikh Aden Muhammad Nour at 161 votes for 105 to be by that the first speaker of parliament for the country since the collapse of the regime of Muhammad Seyad Berri in 1991 and the fall of the country into a civil war initiated by warring groups.
After his election, Aden vowed to exert his best efforts and work honestly to continue the reconciliation process among the groups.
The elections of the speaker of parliament which is composed of 275 parliamentarians paved the way before the parliament to chose a president for the country on September 22. A process which will lead to the selection of a prime minister and assigning him to form a central government which will be the first since 13 years. The Interim Somali parliament, takes at the meantime, one quarters of Kenya's capital, Nairobi as a headquarters since security conditions do not permit transferring it to Somalia.