Somali president names political newcomer as PM, urges unity
Sat Oct 6, 2012 6:55pm GMT
* Western diplomats welcome the choice of new Somali PM
* Analysts say inexperienced PM and president must choose cabinet wisely
* Al Shabaab rebels say new PM is a foreign puppet
* Somalia rebuilding after more than 20 years of war (Adds comment by al
Shabaab)
By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
MOGADISHU, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on
Saturday named political newcomer Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid as the country's
new prime minister, a man diplomats say is untainted by the clan rivalry and
feuding that has plagued Somalia for decades.
"I know (Saaid) and have selected him because he is competent," said
Mohamud, who along with his prime minister face the daunting task of trying
to set up Somalia's first effective central government since the outbreak of
civil war in 1991.
"I urge the parliament and the civilians to support him," he said in a
statement.
Though both the president and prime minister are new in their jobs, they
will be confronted by old problems: acrimonious clan politics, rampant
corruption, maritime piracy and a stubborn Islamist insurgency.
Mogadishu, which until last year was engulfed in street battles between al
Shabaab militants linked to al Qaeda and African Union soldiers, is now a
bustling city where bullet-riddled houses are slowly being repaired and
replaced.
African Union troops also pushed al Shabaab out of the southern port city of
Kismayu last week, the militants' last major bastion after a five-year
revolt, but the Somali government still does not control swathes of the
country and the security situation remains fragile.
Al Shabaab militants, who say Saaid is a foreign stooge, are likely to hit
back with bombings and guerrilla attacks. An al Shabaab suicide bomber on
Saturday blew himself up some 30km (20 miles) from Mogadishu, wounding two
government soldiers.
"The new prime minister is not different from those before him - they were
all brought by Westerners," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al Shabaab's spokesman,
told Reuters.
"He will not change Somalia. We shall fight and keep on foiling the infidel
government."
Saaid has been a prominent businessman in neighbouring Kenya and is married
to Asha Haji Elmi, an influential Somali peace activist.
A Western diplomat said Saaid had a reputation for being above Somalia's
notoriously volatile clan politics, similar to the new president, and the
news of his appointment would be welcomed by foreign governments.
"Like all the decisions the new president has made so far, this is a good
one, and Somalia is on a bit of a roll with the election of (Mohamed Osman)
Jawaari as parliament speaker and Mohamud as president," the diplomat told
Reuters.
Mohamud, a former academic and a political newcomer himself, was elected
president in a secret ballot on Sept. 10, a result hailed by his supporters
as a vote for change.
Matt Bryden, a director of Sahan Research think-tank and former
UN-Monitoring Group coordinator for Somalia, said Saaid was the best
candidate on the list but added that the inexperience of the duo may prove a
potential pitfall.
"We now have a prime minister and president who have never held public
office. The key question is what kind of cabinet will they appoint and from
where will they solicit and attain advice," Bryden said.
Saaid's appointment as prime minister will have to be approved by Somali
legislators, though both analysts and diplomats said this was likely to
happen without problems.
"I request the parliament and the Somali people to work with me," Saaid
said. "I will appoint the cabinet as soon as possible."
TEAM WORK
Rampant corruption and infighting between the clans are the other two major
challenges the new administration will face.
In July, a U.N. Somalia monitoring group report said it had found that out
of every $10 received by the transitional federal government between
2009-2010, $7 had never made it into state coffers. Then President Sheikh
Sharif Ahmed dismissed those allegations. [ID: nL6E8JI0K9]
Saaid hails from a sub-clan of the Darood clan, which is in line with Somali
tradition of sharing the top three political jobs between the main clans.
The president is from the Hawiye clan and the parliament speaker Jawaari
belongs to the Rahanweyn clan, a split which analysts said was vital to make
sure that the majority of the country feels represented by the new
government.
Previous Transitional Federal Governments (TFG) have been characterised by
infighting, particularly between the president and prime minister, who
always derive from different clans and have to satisfy their own power
bases.
"Saaid is very close to the president and so I think we are likely to see
the prime minister and president working as a team rather than working as
rivals, which was one of the problems that undermined the last TFG," Bryden
said. (Additional reporting and writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Myra
MacDonald)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Sat Oct 06 2012 - 18:46:43 EDT
