| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa Horn | |
| Six candidates to run for Somali Parliament speaker | |
| 2012-08-27 | |
NAIROBI: Six candidates in Somalia are running for the powerful post of Parliament speaker, officials said yesterday, as slow progress is made towards selecting a new administration for the war-torn nation.
The election committee “received six candidacies for speaker, 11 for first deputy, and four for second deputy speaker”, the UN political office for Somalia (UNPOS) said yesterday. However, despite progress, the African Union repeated warnings yesterday that the process “continues to be jeopardized by individuals determined to maintain Somalia in a state of chaos”, it said in a statement. Bitter arguments have begun between challengers for the top posts, divided along Somalia's notoriously fractious clan lines. All six candidates for speaker — to be selected by Parliament in a secret ballot — are former ministers in previous administrations. Elections are expected next week, although they have already been delayed several times. Once the speaker is selected, Parliament will then vote for a new president, with over a dozen candidates expected to be in the running for the top post. At least 210 of the 275-member Parliament have been selected by a group of 135 traditional elders, the majority sworn into office on Monday on the tarmac of the capital's airport, protected by African Union troops. The new administration replaces a transitional government, which was in place for eight years marred by political infighting and rampant corruption. Somalia has not had a stable central government since | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 So is this position equivalent to Auntie or Iron Bar? |
| Posted by: Shinter Javirong9154 2012-08-27 15:30 |