Proposed Somali Cabinet Ruffles Feathers

Nearly two months after his election, Hassan Sheikh’s government has finally released the list of its proposed cabinet members.

The cabinet, which consists of 10 ministers, has sparked controversy because of its violation of the 4.5 clan sharing agreement and the selection of a hardline Somaliland secessionist as the Foreign Minister.

The selection of a cabinet has been delayed for weeks now because of a power struggle between the president and his prime minister, with Hassan Sheikh and his Dam al-Jadid Islamist advisers overstepping their bounds, essentially hijacking the prime minister’s role.

The parliament got involved in the squabble after Hassan Sheikh threatened that the rejection of his proposed cabinet would result in the disbanding of the parliament. The parliament, however, stood their ground in the rejection of any cabinet that does not respect the power sharing agreement. On Saturday, parliament convened and passed legislation that would bar the president from dissolving their term.

The proposed cabinet consists of three old faces from a previous administration and does not include a minister of health or education. The cause of worry for many, still, is the nomination of Fowsia Yusuf Aden, a former member of the SNM rebel group who failed to secure a political post in the self-declared country of Somaliland, as Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The nomination of Fowsia has been met with shock and confusion by members of the Awdal, Sool, Sanaag, and Togdheer regions, and is expected to have a negative effect on the heralded Somalia-Somaliland talks. To add insult to injury, members of these pro-Somalia loyalist communities have been completely shut out of the cabinet, a move that has left many scratching their heads, questioning Hassan Sheikh’s position on the Somalia-Somaliland issue.

What damage this move will do to the fragile government remains to be seen, but experts warn that the isolation of unionist communities in the north will result in some elements joining Somaliland to spite the regime in Mogadishu.

{DN Staff Writers}

DissidentNation.com