Somali Parliament face tough choice electing President

Looking at the TFG Parliament, they are in a tough position. Do they listen to their makers - the Ethiopian government. Or do they honor the Djabuuit Peace accord signed with Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS)?

Speaking in a press conference in Mogadishu, the ARS Secretary of Planning Mr. Mohamud Ahmed Tarzan said a hasty election of a new President will be unwise when the main focus at the present time is building a unity government.

“If the interim Parliament elects a new president it will negatively affect the Djibouti Accord which among its articles includes the formation of a unity government”said Mr. Tarzan.

On the contrary to ARS's view, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin was at the airport to bid farewell to his guests. In a VOA interview, Seyoum said that as the current head of the East African regional grouping IGAD, he had urged Somalia's leaders to put aside the Djibouti accord and immediately choose a new president.

"As IGAD we have pronounced ourselves that the charter must be respected in letter and spirit, because that is the only legal instrument that provides legitimacy to the transitional arrangement," said Mesfin.

Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, widely known as Nur Adde, said lawmakers are faced with a tough choice.

"There are two options, one is to have the election within 30 days on the basis of the transitional charter, and at the same time there is this issue of Djibouti agreement which provides an enlargement of the parliament and a national unity government and election of the leadership," he said. "So this is not yet finalized, it is up to the parliament to decide."

In deed, the Somali transitional leadership is in a dilemma to form a new government, following the resignation of former president Abdullahi Yusuf, working hard to prevent Islamic insurgents from taking control as Ethiopian troops withdraw.

In fact, the TFG's two top leaders are on a whirlwind tour of East African capitals seeking support to bringing more AU and UN troops to Somalia.