PM seeks parliament approval for power-sharing, Cabinet

BAIDOA, Somalia Dec 3 (Garowe Online) - Somalia’s interim Prime Minister, Nur “Adde� Hassan Hussein, flew from the national capital Mogadishu on Wednesday en route to Baidoa, where the country’s parliament is based.

Prime Minister Nur Adde, who was accompanied by lawmakers, told reporters before leaving Mogadishu’s airport that he plans to address the Somali federal parliament.

“My objective is to present to Parliament the power-sharing agreement with the [opposition faction] ARS-Djibouti and also the new Cabinet list,� the Prime Minister said.

In Baidoa, lawmakers and other government officials welcomed Prime Minister Nur Adde’s delegation to town.

The Prime Minister met privately with parliament Speaker Sheikh Adan “Madobe� Mohamed, who has vocally supported the power-sharing deal signed in Djibouti last month.

Widening rift

Somali lawmakers in Baidoa who spoke with Garowe Online said the country’s parliament is deeply divided over the power-sharing deal, which calls for a 550-seat parliament and a new President by January 2009.

Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, who is in his native region of Puntland, has rejected the power-sharing agreement and refused to endorse Prime Minister Nur Adde’s new Cabinet.

The power-struggle between Somalia’s leaders has been worsened by Ethiopia and other regional powers, who are taking sides in the country’s endless conflicts.

Ethiopia deployed thousands of soldiers into Somalia two years ago, but has faced a ferocious insurgency led by Islamist rebels.

Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian leader, has announced that the Ethiopian army will withdraw from Somalia sometime this month.

But Prime Minister Nur Adde has expressed anxiety over Ethiopia’s proposed withdrawal plans, calling on Addis Ababa to keep its troops in Somalia until UN peacekeepers are deployed.