Medeshi
SOMALIA: Fresh turmoil, uncertainty as president resigns
NAIROBI, 29 December 2008 (IRIN) - Fresh turmoil and uncertainty loom for the people of Somalia - already ravaged by displacement, conflict, drought and hyper-inflation - after the country’s interim president resigned on 29 December.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned after disagreements with parliament and his prime minister, as well as pressure from the international community.
"President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned at around 1000am local time. The speaker of parliament, Sheikh Aden Madobe, is now the acting president until a new one is elected," Abdi Haji Gobdon, the government spokesman told IRIN.
Gobdon said parliament had to elect a new president within 30 days, according to the interim constitution.
Yusuf's resignation comes days after the man he appointed as prime minister, Mohamed Mahamud Guled, resigned - in defiance of parliament.
Yusuf, a former warlord, was elected four years ago to a five-year term in the hope that he would bring peace and stability to the war-torn country.
According to local sources, Yusuf, in a resignation speech, told parliament he had failed to do so, and blamed both Somalis and the international community for his failure.
Clash with premier
Yusuf and the Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein had clashed over attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Islamist-led armed opposition.
Yusuf was opposed to peace talks held in Djibouti which brought together representatives of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and a faction of the Eritrea-based opposition group, the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS), led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The ex-president regarded these talks as "a plan to weaken his power", said a Somali political observer. "He saw the whole process as a way to sideline him."
According to the observer, Yusuf could still pose a serious obstacle to peace in the country. "He will most likely re-establish his political base in Puntland and use that as a bargaining chip."
A member of parliament in the Yusuf camp, who requested anonymity, told IRIN Yusuf was pressured into resigning by the international community.
"He was forced to resign and it will not lead to peace and stability," said the MP who was speaking from Galkayo, Yusuf's home town.
“Warlordism”
A Somali civil society source told IRIN Yusuf's departure would be positive if it meant the end of "warlordism" in the country.
"If it marks the end of a warlord era then it is positive and we welcome it."
He said the resignation should be accompanied by serious changes in the TFG "if anything positive is to come out of it".
A Nairobi-based regional analyst who preferred anonymity, welcomed Yusuf's resignation, calling it "very positive".
"This is a very positive and long-awaited step that removes impediments to the Djibouti peace process," he said, adding that considerable challenges remain.
He said the TFG and the Djibouti wing of ARS need to move quickly to form a broad-based government. "They need to move with greater urgency to form a unity government and bring in others opposed to the process."
Ethiopian forces
Many Somalis will remember Yusuf as the man who brought Ethiopian forces into Somalia, which led to a fierce insurgency and the displacement of over a million people.
Over the past couple of months, insurgents comprising Islamist Al-Shabab, nationalists and militia clans opposed to foreign forces, have taken control of more than a dozen localities, according to a
local journalist.
The TFG has control only over Mogadishu and the town of Baidoa, 240km southwest of Mogadishu, where the parliament is based.
At least 16,000 Somalis died between 2007 and 2008 and more than 30,000 were injured, according to local human rights groups. According to the UN, 2.6 million Somalis need assistance. That number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year.
Somalia has the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, with up to 300,000 children acutely malnourished annually, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
NAIROBI, 29 December 2008 (IRIN) - Fresh turmoil and uncertainty loom for the people of Somalia - already ravaged by displacement, conflict, drought and hyper-inflation - after the country’s interim president resigned on 29 December.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned after disagreements with parliament and his prime minister, as well as pressure from the international community.
"President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned at around 1000am local time. The speaker of parliament, Sheikh Aden Madobe, is now the acting president until a new one is elected," Abdi Haji Gobdon, the government spokesman told IRIN.
Gobdon said parliament had to elect a new president within 30 days, according to the interim constitution.
Yusuf's resignation comes days after the man he appointed as prime minister, Mohamed Mahamud Guled, resigned - in defiance of parliament.
Yusuf, a former warlord, was elected four years ago to a five-year term in the hope that he would bring peace and stability to the war-torn country.
According to local sources, Yusuf, in a resignation speech, told parliament he had failed to do so, and blamed both Somalis and the international community for his failure.
Clash with premier
Yusuf and the Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein had clashed over attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Islamist-led armed opposition.
Yusuf was opposed to peace talks held in Djibouti which brought together representatives of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and a faction of the Eritrea-based opposition group, the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS), led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The ex-president regarded these talks as "a plan to weaken his power", said a Somali political observer. "He saw the whole process as a way to sideline him."
According to the observer, Yusuf could still pose a serious obstacle to peace in the country. "He will most likely re-establish his political base in Puntland and use that as a bargaining chip."
A member of parliament in the Yusuf camp, who requested anonymity, told IRIN Yusuf was pressured into resigning by the international community.
"He was forced to resign and it will not lead to peace and stability," said the MP who was speaking from Galkayo, Yusuf's home town.
“Warlordism”
A Somali civil society source told IRIN Yusuf's departure would be positive if it meant the end of "warlordism" in the country.
"If it marks the end of a warlord era then it is positive and we welcome it."
He said the resignation should be accompanied by serious changes in the TFG "if anything positive is to come out of it".
A Nairobi-based regional analyst who preferred anonymity, welcomed Yusuf's resignation, calling it "very positive".
"This is a very positive and long-awaited step that removes impediments to the Djibouti peace process," he said, adding that considerable challenges remain.
He said the TFG and the Djibouti wing of ARS need to move quickly to form a broad-based government. "They need to move with greater urgency to form a unity government and bring in others opposed to the process."
Ethiopian forces
Many Somalis will remember Yusuf as the man who brought Ethiopian forces into Somalia, which led to a fierce insurgency and the displacement of over a million people.
Over the past couple of months, insurgents comprising Islamist Al-Shabab, nationalists and militia clans opposed to foreign forces, have taken control of more than a dozen localities, according to a
local journalist.The TFG has control only over Mogadishu and the town of Baidoa, 240km southwest of Mogadishu, where the parliament is based.
At least 16,000 Somalis died between 2007 and 2008 and more than 30,000 were injured, according to local human rights groups. According to the UN, 2.6 million Somalis need assistance. That number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year.
Somalia has the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, with up to 300,000 children acutely malnourished annually, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
(Yusuf will be remembered as the man who brought Ethiopian forces into Somalia - file photo)
