Garowe Online (Garowe)
23 November 2008
A 69-member regional council was sworn in Sunday in Somalia's war-torn capital, but reports from Mogadishu indicate a deepening leadership divide that threatens to destroy the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
The new councilors were sworn in at the residence of Prime Minister Nur Adde, with Deputy PM and Information Minister Ahmed Abdisalam and other officials present.
Seats in the new Banadir Regional Council were divided according to the 4.5 Formula, which divides power among the Somalis' four major clan-families and an alliance of smaller clans.
Mr. Abdisalam, the information minister, said the new council will work on a temporary basis and lay the groundwork for the formation for a permanent regional council within four months.
Prime Minister Nur Adde said the new council is "legitimate," adding: "I am confident that the new council will bring many changes to Banadir [region]."
New mayor
Mohamed Osman "Dhagahtur" was elected Sunday evening by the Banadir Regional Council, with 50 votes helping Dhagahtur become the region's new governor who also holds the coveted title: Mayor of Mogadishu.
Mr. Dhagahtur served as deputy mayor under the administration of Mohamed "Dheere" Omar, the ex-Mayor whose expulsion in July by Prime Minister Nur Adde triggered an ongoing political feud with President Yusuf.
Sources close to the Prime Minister's office confidentially told Garowe Online that the councilors were "instructed" to vote for Mr. Dhagahtur, who has been the region' s caretaker governor in recent weeks since Mohamed Dheere's ousting.
Dhagahtur is associated with one of Mogadishu's most notorious warlords-turned-parliamentarian, MP Muse Sudi Yalahow, with informed sources describing him as one of Yalahow's militia commanders.
Rejection
Mohamed Dheere, a former warlord allied to President Yusuf, rejected the new Banadir Regional Council and vowed not to recognize the new mayor.
Speaking to reporters at his Mogadishu home, the ex-Mayor said the new council was "illegal" because Prime Minister Nur Adde's term has expired.
"Last night [Saturday] was the end of Nur Adde's term," Mohamed Dheere said, while accusing the Prime Minister of mismanaging US$90,000 the UN donated towards the establishment of a regional government for Banadir.
He also rejected the division of seats in the new council using the 4.5 Formula, saying that such distribution of power is "unfair" to the local population.
The Mogadishu mayor's election, which was organized and hosted by Prime Minister Nur Adde, is likely to deepen divisions with President Yusuf.
The Somali president has declared that there is "no government" in the country, after he refused to endorse the Prime Minister's new Cabinet earlier this month.
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