SOMALI PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW PRIME MINISTER

         Mogadishu, 10 Safar 1435/13 December 2013 (MINA) – The Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has appointed a new prime minister, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, an economist as the second prime minister of the Africa country.

         Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed was named prime minister in a press conference held on Thursday at Villa Somalia – the heavily guarded presidential palace in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Aljazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

         “After a long consultations, I have taken the decision to name Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed as prime minister,” the president told reporters in Mogadishu. “He deserves to take up the responsibility… I hope that parliament  endorses his nomination.”

         Ahmed’s appointment comes after the previous Prime Minister, Abdi Farah Shirdon, lost a vote of no-confidence in the Somali parliament last week following disagreement with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over cabinet appointments.

         Ahmed, a Canadian citizen, is a newcomer to politics and was overlooked for the post last time around. An economist with a degree from the University of Ottawa, Ahmed worked for the Islamic Development Bank until his appointment. He has also worked for the eastern and southern African regional trading bloc COMESA.

        Ahmed beat out politicians Hussein Halane, a former finance minister and Abdiwali Elmi Gonjeeh, an economist with a PhD from Nairobi University and a one time deputy prime minister and acting prime minister.

        President Mohamud hopes the appointment of Ahmed will bring weeks of political uncertainties to an end and re-energise the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked armed rebel group, al-Shabab, which still controls significant parts of the country.

         Ahmed has 30 days to appoint a new cabinet, which will have to be approved by parliament.

         Previous Somali governments have been plagued by infighting between presidents and prime ministers. Ahmed is the sixth prime minister the war-torn east African country has had in six years.

         Somalia’s weak, UN-backed government – which sits in place in large part because of the security provided by African Union troops – controls only small parts of the country and continues to struggle to provide security and battle corruption.

         Nearly all people in Somalia are Sunni Muslims. For more than 1400 years, Islam made a great part of Somali society. Practicing Islam reinforces distinctions that further set Somalis apart from their immediate neighbors, many of whom are either Christians or adherents of indigenous faiths. The early Muslims sought refuge from persecution in cities on the northern Somali coast.

        The role of religious functionaries began to shrink in the 1950s and 1960s as some of their legal and educational powers and responsibilities were transferred to secular authorities. The position of religious leaders changed substantially after the 1969 revolution and the introduction of scientific socialism. Siad Barre insisted that his version of socialism was compatible with Qur’anic principles, and he condemned atheism. Religious leaders, however, were warned not to meddle in politics.

         The new government instituted legal changes that some religious figures saw as contrary to Islamic precepts. The regime reacted sharply to criticism, executing some of the protesters. Subsequently, religious leaders seemed to accommodate themselves to the government.

          Islam was introduced to the northern Somali coast early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after the hijra. In the late 800s, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. He also mentioned that the Adal kingdom had its capital in the city, suggesting that the Adal Sultanate with Zeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries.

           According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly-established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south. Adal’s history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia. (T/P04/E1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)