Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Fides Service)- Tomorrow, Sunday 10 October the Somali Parliament will elect a new Prime Minister/President of parliament. Some 275 members of parliament will meet in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, under the aegis of the European Union and IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an organisation comprising east African states.
Abdulkassim Salat Hassan who has led the country’s interim government since 2000 is expected to win, however some 27 candidates are running for the three year term of presidency .
Since Somalia collapsed in 1991 when the former dictator Siad Barre was overthrown, there has been total anarchy with many different clans, each with its own militia, grabbing control of some of the territory and today Somalia is still divided in at least three parts. There is Somaliland, a republic in the north which declared its independence 10 years ago but is not recognised by the international community. This region enjoys a certain degree of stability especially in the central western area. However Somaliland did not sign agreements reached in Nairobi yesterday.
There is Puntland in the north east where relative security for the past 3 or 4 years led to the creation of a temporary local administration which does not aspire to independence. Yesterday in Nairobi Puntland representatives signed an agreement accepting the interim government which made the region part of Somalia.
The most populated central southern region, which is potential richer than the rest of the country still has no stable administration.
In fact the President of the interim government controls only part of the capital Mogadishu. Efforts on the part of the international community to restore national unity in Somalia are thwarted by continual fighting between clans for control of the country’s scarce resources. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 9/10/2004 righe 28 parole 322)
