Premier in dilemma over cabinet

The prime minister of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG), Hasan Abshir Farah, is having difficulties in naming his cabinet, a senior TNG official told IRIN on Monday.

The problem seems to be divisions within clans and "a crisis of representation within the clans", he said. According to the official, in one instance, a clan which had been allotted two cabinet posts sent a list of 26 nominees. Had Hasan Abshir proceeded to choose two names from the list, "he would most definitely have annoyed those within the clan whom he had set aside".

The list had been returned for the clan to propose a more realistic number of nominees. This situation indicated that "the clans are unable or unwilling to take the necessary decision, so they are telling the prime minister: you make the choice for us," the official said. "Unfortunately the clan has been the Achilles heel of Somali politics," he added.

The clan which appears to be facing the most serious problem of all is the Hawiye, which predominates in Mogadishu. "Right now we seem to have resolved the problem as far as most clans are concerned, with the exception of the Hawiye," the TNG official said.

The official, however, expressed optimism that the issue would be resolved soon. "I am hopeful that all these problems will be overcome and a new cabinet will be announced within two or three days," he said.

Hasan Abshir was named prime minister on 12 November to replace the former premier, Ali Khalif Galayr, who was voted out of office by the Transitional National Assembly in a vote of no-confidence in late October.

At the time of his appointment, Abshir told IRIN that his "first priority will be national reconciliation. We must complete the reconciliation process as we promised. Everything else depends on that," he said.

He has repeatedly postponed the formation of a new cabinet, thereby playing for time in order to accommodate opponents of the TNG and give the reconciliation process a boost, the official said.