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NAIROBI, February 14,
2009 — Somalia's new president on Friday named Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke,
a Canadian-Somali national, as the war-torn country's new prime
minister.
The new premier, the son of a former president but a relative newcomer
to Somalia's political scene, will face the daunting task of forming an
inclusive government and restoring stability to the Horn of Africa
country.
"I selected Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke to be the prime minister of
Somalia and I wish him success, and I will do my best in my capacity as
president to help the premier fulfill his duties," President Sheikh
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said, reading a statement at a special reception ion
Djibouti.
"I am very confident in the prime minister's ability to serve his
nation," he added.
In his brief acceptance speech, the premier minister admitted he faced
numerous challenges and vowed to work towards reconciliation.
"I accept the appointment by the president and I will do everything I
can, to the best of my ability," he said. "I will continue to promote
reconciliation and create a sense of unity among Somalis."
"The Somali people are not interested in having a government which is
beset by infighting instead of helping the people. And I will closely
work with the Somali people and parliament," Sharmarke added.
Sharmarke, 48, has worked with the United Nations in Sudan and Sierra
Leone, holds Canadian citizenship and obtained degrees in political
science and political economy from Carleton University in Ottawa.
He is a member of the same Darod subclan -- the Majarteen -- as former
president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who resigned late last year.
According to Somalia's transitional charter, the president, the prime
minister and the parliament speaker have to belong to three different
major clans.
Sheikh Sharif, a young Islamist cleric who was elected as president by
parliament late last month, is a member of the Hawiye clan.
The president announced his choice for the post of prime minister in
Djibouti and said that parliament was expected to endorse him on
Saturday.
The incoming prime minister's father, Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, was the
last democratically-elected president of the Horn of Africa country.
He was assassinated in October 1969. Days later, Mohamed Siad Barre took
power in a bloodless coup and remained there until his overthrow in 1991
plunged the country into anarchy.
Sharmarke will replace Nur Hassan Hussein, who had led Somalia's
transitional federal government since November 2007 and lost in the
presidential election held last month in Djibouti.
According to the charter, Sharmarke will have a month from the moment of
his official appointment to pick a cabinet, which will in turn have to
be approved by parliament.
Source: AFP
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