Somalia's parliament will hold itsfirst meeting today in the capital, Mogadishu after relocating from neighboringDjibouti and electing new President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Somaliparliamentarians left to Djibouti as a result of peace negotiations between theformer Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance forthe Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS). Under the agreement parliament was expandedto more than 500 accommodating members of the moderate Islamic ARS led bySheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. But the hard-line Islamic insurgent group al-Shababseized the temporary parliament building in Baidoa when parliamentarians leftfor Djibouti. Somali parliamentarian Ahmed Hashi tells reporter Peter Clotteythat Mogadishu will be the permanent place for parliamentary meetings.
"Wewill be meeting today as we wait for the speaker to return from Nairobi today.So in the coming hours, we will be holding our parliamentary meeting. And asyou will remember, that house is over five hundred MP's (Members of Parliament)comprising of both the ARS and the transitional federal parliament. The taskahead of us is very tough and very difficult, but we are going to start afresh,a new era and a new system, in which hopefully, we are expecting Somalia toprevail in peace and stability, beginning right now," Hashi noted.
Hesaid the new government of national unity under President Sheikh Sharif SheikhAhmed is responsible for handling the security situation in the country.
"Thesecurity situation is really not our task. That is the responsibility of thegovernment as you are very much aware. But it concerns me because one of ourtasks or our duties is to investigate any matter of public interest. So sincesecurity is part of public interest, we would be looking critically at it. Andwe know without security, even parliamentary meetings would not be possible. Thegovernment is responsible, but we will give them pieces of advice on how to goabout it as parliamentarians," he said.
Hashisaid Somalia parliamentarians have now relocated permanently from the temporarybuilding in Baidoa to the capital, Mogadishu.
"Wehad a temporary location in Baidoa, and that was when we were only TFG, but nowwe are together as an expanded parliament. The initial decision was that whenpeace returns to Mogadishu, parliament would be relocated to the capital,Mogadishu, and that was the big condition why we were in Baidoa. Now, in ourfirst meeting or second or in the future, hopefully, we will finalize orapprove the headquarters of parliament to Mogadishu," Hashi pointed out.