Somalia’s PM Appoints Acting Leader for South West State

Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has appointed his deputy to lead South West State following the resignation of regional President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagaren.

The prime minister on Wednesday named Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi, the second deputy prime minister, as acting leader of the regional administration. A government spokesperson confirmed the appointment through a decree issued by Barre.

The appointment comes days after Somali federal troops, backed by local forces, secured full control of the state’s administrative capital, Baidoa, prompting Laftagaren’s resignation after nearly eight years in office.

The South West State administration and the federal government in Mogadishu have been at odds over Laftagaren’s mandate and a constitutional overhaul approved by the federal parliament.

Haji is expected to lead the region on an interim basis, paving the way for planned one-person, one-vote elections in the state. Baidoa, a strategic and economically important city about 246 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, hosts offices of the African Union and the United Nations.

Senior federal officials, including Parliament Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe, Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali and Religious Affairs Minister Mukhtar Robow, are in Baidoa to oversee the political transition.

SOURCE: AA