Somali PM completes cabinet nomination

Somali Prime Minister Abdirashid Omar Sharmarke on Thursday night announced a 66-member cabinet after close to a month of deadlock with Parliament over the composition of the new cabinet.

In his cabinet list, Sharmarke nominated five women, three as full ministers and two others as deputies, making his cabinet one of the few with such a number of women in recent history.

The new council of ministers consists of 26 ministers and same number of deputies, with another 14 state ministers.

This is the third time in a month the PM named a cabinet after the previous ones failed to get parliamentary approval over concerns raised by parliament, regarding the inclusion of the president's allies.

The new list does not include any of the president's allies who were in the previous cabinet, an indication Sharmarke might get parliament's nod to form a new government after close to three months since the last cabinet was dissolved.

If approved, the new cabinet will be expected to steer the country towards the implementation of Vision 2016, which encompasses completion of the federalization process, constitution review and subsequent universal general elections.

The move comes after the international community had expressed concern about the frequent delays over the forming of new government.

UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Somalia Nicholas Kay earlier expressed concerns about the political delays in naming the cabinet.

"This year will be decisive in whether and how Somalia can become a unified, peaceful and federal State," said Kay, expressing excitement but also worry over risks on the horizon. "Delays and setbacks will have an even greater impact this year than last." Endi