Somali lawmakers endorse new cabinet
Date 2012/11/14 16:00:00 | Topic: Somalia
|  Somalia's parliament on Tuesday unanimously approved the new 10-minister government of Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon
The 10-member new cabinet which includes two female ministers has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the Somali parliament in a show of hands voting method to give the go ahead for the smallest cabinet the country has in recent years.
"Present at the session were 225 members of parliament 219 voted in favor, three voted against and three abstained therefore the government is endorsed," announced Mohamed Sheikh Osman, speaker of the parliament.
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon presented his government program for the next four years before the vote was held. He said his government's priority was tackling insecurity, piracy and extremism by building the capacity of the local security apparatus.
The endorsement of the new government was welcomed by the African Union and United Nations as "another important milestone in the history of Somalia."
"The appointment of clean slate of just 10 ministers conclusively demonstrates the will of the Somali leadership to move away from the mindset of the past and bring about positive change," said the UN Somalia envoy Augustine Mahiga in a statement.
"I am particularly pleased with the historic appointments of two women to substantive high profile as Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Development and Social Services," he added.
The new Somali government faces daunting task of restoring security in area under the government control and spreading its authority throughout the horn of Africa nation which has been beset by years of lawlessness.
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