Mogadishu (PP News Desk ) — influential politicians who identify Mogadishu as their stronghold have called the make-up of the new parliament of South West State into question.
The Federal Minister of Security Mohamed Abukar Islow and the Federal Minister of Telecommunications Engineer Anshur attended a meeting held in Mogadishu in which participants had criticised South West State for giving the clan to which the two Ministers belong only 9 MPs. The two Ministers hail from Hirshabelle and Galmudug, the last two Federal Member States formed five years ago. The Federal Minister for Interior, Abdi Mohamed Sabriye reportedly declined to attend the meeting.
The current South West State administration of President Abdifatah Laftagareen maintains strong relations with the Federal Government of Somalia. It is not clear if the complaint about the distribution of parliamentary seats relates either to decrease in the number of MPs for the clan the Federal Ministers are vouching for or whether an increase in the total number of MPs for the new parliament did not assign the disgruntled clan extra MPs accordingly.
The two Federal Ministers have breached the Code of Conduct that obliges them not to be involved in intra-state disputes. Their presence at the meeting may be misunderstood as a government stance in support of the dissatisfied clan.
© Puntland Post, 2020
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