Somalia lawmakers approve new cabinet after challenge

Somalia’s parliament has endorsed the country’s new cabinet, a victory for the prime minister after more than 100 legislators challenged his nominations last week.

Acting parliament speaker Abdiweli Sheikh Ibrahim said Wednesday that 224 MPs out of the 341 present voted in favor of the new cabinet, while 15 rejected it and two abstained.

Somalia’s chief justice has sworn in the cabinet members.

Some lawmakers had said the proposed cabinet went against the power-sharing formula that Somalia’s powerful clans agreed on previously.

The fragile central government is trying to assert itself in this long-chaotic country after the election of Somali-American President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed last month.

The international community has poured in hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years for Somalia’s political and economic recovery.

Source:Associated Press