BAIDOA, Somalia (AFP) — The Somali parliament on Thursday approved a new downsized cabinet formed last week in an effort to steer the war-wracked country out of turmoil.
The 15 ministers were overwhelmingly endorsed, with only five of the 230 sitting members rejecting the appointments and two abstaining.
"I very much appreciate the acceptance of my new government and I hope we can together face the difficulty in our country," Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein told the lawmakers in the provincial town of Baidoa.
Three more ministers remain to be confirmed to bring to 18 the final number of ministers in the new cabinet.
A previous government that was announced in November included almost twice as many ministers.
Somalia's fractious political scene has struggled to agree on a cabinet following the October resignation from the premiership of Ali Mohamed Gedi.
In recent months, Somalia has been rocked by daily violence, mainly in Mogadishu, between Ethiopian-backed government forces and the remnants of an Islamist militia that briefly controlled parts of the country.
Source: AFP
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