Somalia has a new government

Somalia's new prime minister appoints leaner cabinet and promises to rebuild war-torn country

By The Associated Press November 4, 2012

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Somalias+prime+minister+appoints+leaner+cabinet+promises+rebuild/7496217/story.html#ixzz2BNngpyKd

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's new prime minister has named a leaner cabinet as the country attempts to establish its first fully functioning government after decades of anarchy.
Abdi Farah Shirdon on Sunday announced the appointments of 10 cabinet ministers, downsizing the executive from the previous 18 in the transitional government whose mandate ended in August. He said his government would restore security and rebuild Somalia's economy.
Shirdon appointed two female ministers, including the first female Foreign Minister Fowziya Yusuf Aden as well as Maryan Qasim who was appointed Public Services Development minister. Somalia has been ravaged by war for two decades after warlords overthrew a longtime dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other. The government, backed by African Union troops, is currently battling islamist extremist rebels linked to al-Qaida.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Somalias+prime+minister+appoints+leaner+cabinet+promises+rebuild/7496217/story.html#ixzz2BNnTtnCb

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Somalia's New Prime Minister Unveils Cabinet

11/5/2012 5:52 AM ET 

Somalia's new Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon unveiled a ten-member Cabinet on Sunday, with two female Ministers in the proposed Cabinet line-up for the first time in the Horn of Africa nation's history.

"Taking into account the current situation, I have appointed a lean, effective Cabinet that can lead the government in this difficult situation and that can bring full, reliable peace," Shirdon told a press conference at the presidential palace in capital Mogadishu.

"After long discussions and consultations, I have named my Cabinet which consists of only ten members. Among them is a female Foreign Affairs Minister for the first time in Somali history," the Prime Minister added.

In the proposed Cabinet line up, Shirdon named Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan as the country's Deputy Prime Minister as well as Foreign Affairs Minister, and nominated Maryam Kassim, another female politician, as Minister for Social Development Services.

Incidentally, Maryam Kassim had held the same portfolio in former President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's transitional government. Two other Ministers from the previous government also retained their departments in the new Cabinet, including Defense Minister Abdihakim Haji Mohamud Fiqi and Justice Minister Abdihakim Mohamud.

All the remaining Ministers are new entrants. Notably, the Cabinet line-up has to be confirmed by the country's Parliament before the Ministers take office. Experts say the proposed ministerial line-up may face opposition from lawmakers who do not consider it be a fair representation of the Somali population.

Soon after Shirdon announced his new Cabinet, Fauzia Yusuf said her nomination as "the Foreign Minister is historic for the Somali country and particularly for the women of Somalia, as it turns a new page for the political situation of our country and will lead to success and prosperity."

The development comes after Somalia's Parliament voted last month to endorse Shirdon's appointment as the country's new Prime Minister. He was nominated to the post by newly-elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Somalia had undergone a peace and national reconciliation process in recent months, with the country's U.N.-backed transitional federal institutions implementing the "Roadmap for the End of Transition" devised in September 2011. The transition process culminated in the election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as President in September, giving the impoverished country its first proper government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's government in 1991. Nevertheless, Somalia still witnesses frequent bombings and militant attacks, mainly in the capital Mogadishu. Most of such attacks have been blamed on the al-Shabaab, which is considered to be Somalia's most prominent and influential Islamist militant group. The al-Qaeda aligned outfit is branded a terrorist organization by the United States and most of the international community. The group is the military wing of the Islamist movement ousted by Ethiopia-backed Somali forces in 2006. Until recently, al-Shabaab and allied Islamist militant groups controlled large areas in southern Somalia where they enforced strict Islamic laws or Sharia. But in recent months, Somali forces, backed by African Union peacekeepers, have managed to recapture most of the country from the Islamist militants, except some pockets in rural southern and central Somalia which are still under rebel control. by RTT Staff Writer