Somali President Names New Prime Minister
December 16, 2008

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on Tuesday named a new prime minister despite parliament's rejection of his decision to sack the current premier, worsening a power struggle in the conflict-wracked country.

Yusuf appointed close ally Mohamoud Mohamed Guled, a little known lawmaker who has also served as a minister in the transitional government, to replace Nur Hassan Hussein.

"The country did not have a functioning government and this is why I nominated a new prime minister," Yusuf said.

Lawmakers on Monday voted overwhelmingly to back Hussein a day after the president said he was sacking him and the entire cabinet because they had failed to bring security to the nation, but the premier challenged the move as unconstitutional.

Yusuf's spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamud said the president had acted in accordance with "powers stipulated by the transitional federal charter."

But according to the charter, the president needs parliament's approval to dismiss the prime minister.

"This was the moment the Somali people have been waiting for," said Mohamud, who dismissed the lawmakers' vote as "fake results without any proper parliamentary procedure."

Yusuf's decision is likely to worsen infighting in the government, which has been fraught with power wrangles and unable to exert authority across the lawless country since its formation in 2004.

Agriculture Minister Mustafa Duhullow dismissed Yusuf's decision as a "personal wish that will not have legal effect."

"Hussein is the legitimate prime minister of Somalia approved by the parliament, but the president has the right to nominate whoever he wants," Duhullow told AFP.

"This is a desperate measure by the president to interrupt the ongoing peace talks between the TFG and the opposition," he said, referring to the country's Transitional Federal Government.

"Yusuf is not against Hussein as a person, but he does not like his efforts in making Somalia a peaceful country."

In Kenya, where the Somali government was formed, Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said the country would implement UN's last month sanctions on Somalis who block peace efforts.

"If they do not find it necessary to work together, Kenya will take the steps of the UN resolution. We will sanction them with their families, relatives and partners in business," Wetangula told reporters.

He added that Kenya "bears the full brunt of the chaos in Somalia."

Ethiopia, which sent troops in 2006 to back the Somali government against an Islamist movement, also expressed concern.

"It is a matter of concern, this feud among the transitional government leadership," foreign ministry spokesman Wahide Belay said. "We are definitely following the situation very closely."

Yusuf and Hussein have been at loggerheads in recent months, notably over attempts to reach a reconciliation agreement with the Islamist-dominated Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) negotiated in Djibouti.

The UN mediator of the talks has warned the row risked hindering reconciliation efforts and African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping also voiced concern.

The EU and the United States have also voiced concern over the dispute.

Hussein, who was appointed in November 2007, also survived a no-confidence vote in September after some lawmakers accused him of embezzling state funds.

He replaced Ali Mohamed Gedi who was forced to resign after months of a bruising power struggle with Yusuf, a veteran warlord who has headed Somalia's transitional administration since its inception in 2004.

Conflict in Somalia and power struggles that erupted since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre have scuppered numerous initiatives to restore national stability.

Source: The Associated Press