Somalia's President Abdulahi Yusuf has dissolved the cabinet for
failing to deliver during its two-year period and announced that a
31-member one would be named within a week.
"From today onwards, the government has been dissolved, only the
prime minister will remain," Yusuf reportedly told Somali
parliament in central town of Baidoa, about 240 kilometers
northwest of Mogadishu.
"Within a week, a new government will be in place and the
cabinet will not exceed 31 ministers," he added.
The move follows an agreement brokered by Ethiopia on Sunday by
Somalia's top leaders to end their differences, which threatened
the two-year old fragile administration.
Both President Yusuf and Parliamentary Speaker Sherrif Hasssan
Sheikh Adan had opposed the Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi's move
to postpone the proposed talks in Khartoum, Sudan with rival
Islamists.
But their position contradicted Gedi's rejection of talks, with
political pundits saying it could further isolate Gedi who has
suffered a string of political setbacks in the past week.
"We have agreed finally and we are ready to run the country with
unity," he told the lawmakers.
Both Yusuf and Gedi reached an agreement to work together late
Sunday, a day after two Ethiopian ministers held crisis talks
seeking to salvage the transitional national government from a
possible collapse owing to the duo disagreements.
Government Spokesman Abdirahman Dinari had confirmed earlier
that the talks between the leaders, held in the southern town of
Baidoa, were a success and that they agreed to reduce the number of
ministries to 31.
An Ethiopian delegation met with the Somali leaders to help them
settle their differences on whether to negotiate with the Islamic
militias that control most of southern Somalia.
"Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin mediated between the
leaders and according to the agreement reached on Sunday, Gedi will
appoint a new Cabinet of 31 members, 31 deputy ministers and 12
State ministers within seven days," Dinari told Xinhua by telephone
from Baidoa.
Since last week, 43 officials have quit the Somali government,
including more than one-third of the cabinet.
Most of the departing ministers have said they oppose the
presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil, or that they want the
government to make peace with the increasingly powerful
Islamists.
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Analysts said the recent resignations aimed to exert pressure on
the premier to reshuffle his cabinet or step down.
After the government had watched helplessly as a powerful
Islamic militia seized the capital, Mogadishu, and much of southern
Somalia, the Islamists renewed their opposition to Arab
League-mediated peace talks unless the Ethiopian troops
withdrew.
The Islamists, however, have not indicated whether they are
interested in power sharing, and some fear they are bent on taking
all of Somalia.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since
the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2006)
