New Somali PM sworn in
Somalia’s parliament has sworn in Nur Hassan Hussein as the country’s new prime minister in a bid to bolster an interim government weakened by political deadlock and violence.
Hussein, 69, took the oath of office on Saturday after 211 of the present 212 lawmakers endorsed him in the provincial town of Baidoa, where the parliament is based.
Abdullahi Yusuf, left, has urged the new PM to form a cabinet quickly
“I promise that I will perform my duties honestly and respect the interim federal charter, and I ask the parliament to support me and correct me if I go wrong,” Hussein told the lawmakers.
Abdullahi Yusuf, the Somali president, urged Hussein to quickly form a new cabinet.
Yusuf said: “I am optimistic that the government will fulfil its obligations in the two years left for us,”
The president named the veteran law-enforcement and aid official on Thursday to replace Ali Mohamed Gedi who resigned last month after a long-running power struggle with the president.
UN approval
Hussein becomes the second premier in Yusuf’s three-year-old transitional government that is struggling to end years of violence in the country.
Known as Nur Adde, Hussein was born in 1938 and served in many government jobs before rising to attorney general in 1987.
He had been the secretary-general of the Somali Red Crescent since 1991
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, had welcomed Hussein’s nomination.
“The secretary-general welcomes Nur Hussein’s background and experience in humanitarian operations in Somalia and thus his unique understanding of the challenges confronting his country,” the UN chief said in a statement.