Somali
PM Sharmarke resigns, insurgency rages
(Muqdisho,
September 21,
2010 Ceegaag Online)
Somalia's Prime Minister
Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke resigned on Tuesday, paying the
price for the government's failure to rein in an Islamist
insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians.
Thousands of African Union
peacekeeping troops have been sent to support the interim
administration, but hardline militants now control much of
the capital
Mogadishu and huge swathes of the country's south and
central regions.
Politicians loyal to President
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed quickly said Sharmarke's departure would
put an end to the internal divisions that have beset the
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and slowed government
business to a crawl.
Ahmed said he welcomed Sharmarke's
decision to quit and said he would nominate a new prime
minister as soon as possible. It was not immediately clear
who would be candidates for the post.
Some Horn of Africa analysts,
however, said the change of leadership would be seen as a
propaganda coup by Islamist militants and change little as
long as the divisions of power between the president and
prime minister were poorly defined.
"This is an attempt by Ahmed and his
allies to re-invent the TFG but this cannot be achieved by
changing an individual, said Rashid Abdi, a Nairobi-based
Somalia analyst at
the International Crisis Group.
"It is a problem with the hybrid
system (of governance) which ... is supposed to bring checks
and balances but
Somalia's culture of a strong leader lags behind that
system."
Abdi said the beleaguered Ahmed, a
former Islamist rebel, was looking for a scapegoat as he
tried to reassert his authority over a brittle
administration and disillusioned nation
The Sufi militia group Ahlu
Sunna Walijamaca, which earlier this year signed a
power-sharing deal with the TFG, warned Sharmarke's
departure would only worsen the insecurity.
BALANCE OF POWER SHIFT?
Flanked by Ahmed, the outgoing
Sharmarke said he was stepping down in the light of the
crisis within government and escalating violence in
Somalia.
Last week, Ahmed criticised
Sharmarke for failing to resolve the conflict and said
numerous cabinet reshuffles had yielded no improvements.
"This could be a good opportunity
for the transitional government. It could generate new
political capital if the new PM is competent and gains the
support of the Somali people," said Afyare Elmi, a Somali
professor of politics based in Dohar.
Whether the leadership shuffle
steadies the interim administration, whose mandate is
expected to expire in August 2011, will depend on who
replaces Sharmarke, a diplomatic source said.
The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab
militants have stepped up their offensive to topple the
government in the last six weeks. A suicide bomber blew
himself up outside the presidential palace compound on
Monday night, wounding two peacekeepers.
The rebels have used suicide bombers
to devastating effect over the past two years, killing five
government ministers and dozens of AU peacekeeping troops.
Al Shabaab was also behind attacks in
Uganda in July that killed
at least 79 people
Source: Reuters
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