WASHINGTON \u2014 Members of Somalia’s Parliament have approved the appointment of Hamza Abdi Barre as the new prime minister.<\/P>
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More than 200 members of Parliament, who were present at a session held Saturday in Mogadishu, unanimously backed Barre, who also is member of the lower house of Parliament.<\/P>
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After the vote, Barre told VOA in an exclusive interview he would form “an effective government to deal with the current situation.”<\/P>
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\u201cI will form a government that would advance the key priorities of my new government, including security, drought response, reconciliation, and development,\u201d Barre said.<\/P>
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\u201cI thank the respected lawmakers for giving me the confidence, a confidence, I know comes with a burden and challenges, a confidence that makes me both happy and a little bit worried about its extent and the huge expectations.\u201d<\/P>
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International humanitarian organizations and the Somalia’s special presidential envoy for drought and climate, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, continue to warn that Somalia faces a climate emergency and a famine.<\/P>
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\u201cOur people are facing a severe drought as a result of an unprecedented fourth failed rainy season with catastrophic hunger, and we extremely fear that the situation may turn into a deadly famine, therefore my government will give the priority in dealing with drought response,\u201d Barre said.<\/P>
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Somalia politics often include disputes between presidents and prime ministers, which is the product of a complex constitution intended to encourage power sharing, which forces an elected president to handpick a prime minister from a rival clan and then hand over certain powers to that unelected post.<\/P>
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In the past, such disagreements often have paralyzed governments, leading to the eventual ouster of prime ministers by lawmakers.<\/P>
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Unlike previous prime ministers, though, Barre is a close friend of the current president and served as secretary-general of the president\u2019s Peace and Development Party from 2011 to 2017.<\/P>
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Barre says this time around, if any political differences arise between him and the president it will not escalate into tension.<\/P>
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\u201cIt is the human nature. We can differ on a political issue, but I assure for Somalis that we will find a mechanism that we can solve our differences without political tension.\u201d Barre said. \u201cI assure you that the president will effectively work together for the betterment of the Somali people.\u201d<\/P>
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Barre, 48, was elected to Parliament for the first time in December. Previously, he was the chair of the Jubaland regional electoral commission.<\/P>
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He was nominated June 15 as prime minister by the newly elected president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.<\/P>
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One of the biggest challenges facing his government is the al-Qaida-aligned Islamist group al-Shabab, which still controls large areas of rural southern and central Somalia, continuing to carry out suicide attacks and assassinations in the main cities, including the capital, Mogadishu.<\/P>
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Source: Voice of America<\/P>
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Members of Somalia’s Parliament have approved the appointment of Hamza Abdi Barre as the new prime minister.More than 200 members of Parliament, who were present at a session held Saturday in Mogadishu, unanimously backed Barre, who also i…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n