The new TFG Prime Minister in Mogadishu unveils his new Cabinet
Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed 'Farmaajo', announced a much reduced cabinet of only 18 members last Friday. It includes only three members of the previous cabinet of Omar Ali Sharmarke who resigned in September. The choice of ministers was made in accordance with the Transitional Charter's 4.5 formula of clan power sharing. There are three Deputy Prime Ministers, all newcomers to the cabinet: Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, from Somaliland, will be Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; Mr. Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi, from Bay region, and a former Somali diplomat, is appointed Defence Minister as well as a Deputy Prime Minister; and Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, from Puntland, and a professor of economy at Niagara University in the United States, is Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and a Deputy Prime Minister.
Ahlu Suna Wal Jamaa, which signed an agreement with the TFG in March 2010, secured three ministerial positions including the important posts of the Ministers of Interior and of National Security. The new cabinet line-up also includes some intellectuals from the Diaspora. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi 'Farmaajo' also announced the names of eighteen Deputy Ministers and nine State Ministers to complete his ministerial appointments. Both the timing and the number of appointments surprised observers of the process. Eighteen out of the twenty seven appointments are Members of Parliament who had previously showed some discontent over the first phase of Cabinet formation last week. Parliament will convene on Saturday to deliberate on the appointments and its approval of the Prime Minister's Cabinet.