Somali interim house sets precedent in PM’s rejection
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.