21 Aug 2012

SOMALIA / PARLIAMENT

Some 215 of the total number of 275 Members of Parliament were sworn in yesterday (20 August) at an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Mogadishu, passing the benchmark of 185 which allows for the new Federal Parliament to convene with a functioning majority. AMISOM

Posted at: August 21, 2012 2:16 pm

Duration: 01:19

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STORY: SOMALIA / PARLIAMENT
TRT 1:19
SOURCE: AMISOM 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: 20th AUGUST 2012, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, new MPs opening chant.
2. Med shot, seated MPs
3. Med shot, MP
4. Med shot, presentation table, MC explaining hand placement
5. Various shots, female MP 
6. Close up, woman MP
7. Wide shot, MPs
8. Various shots, discussion
9. Various shots, women making their presentations

STORYLINE:

According to the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), some 215 of the total number of 275 Members of Parliament were sworn in yesterday (20 August) at an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Mogadishu, passing the benchmark of 185 which allows for the new Federal Parliament to convene with a functioning majority.

Held at Mogadishu International Airport, the inauguration ceremony was attended by the currently serving President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, respectively, and the current Speaker of Parliament – a former army general, Mussa Hassan Abdulle, who was appointed interim Speaker of the Parliament – as well as members of the Mogadishu-based diplomatic community.

In its news release, UNPOS noted that "careful" selection had resulted in high number of university graduates, people with relevant professional experience and a significant number of women entering the Parliament, although the agreed-upon quota of 30 per cent of seats for women parliamentarians was not reached. Somali leaders had committed to ensuring that women hold 30 per cent of all seats in the new institutions.

After decades of warfare, Somalia has been undergoing a peace and national reconciliation process, with the country's transitional federal institutions implementing a so-called Roadmap for the End of Transition, which spells out priority measures to be carried out before the current transitional governing arrangements end by the deadline of 20 August.

The measures included the drafting of a new Provisional Constitution, and the selection of the Members of Parliament by a group of 135 traditional Somali Elders, with the advice of a Technical Selection Committee.

A National Constituent Assembly overwhelmingly approved the Provisional Constitution on 1 August. The document was a part of the Roadmap process, providing a legal framework governing the workings of the new Somali Federal Institutions after 20 August.

Filed under AMISOM SOMALIA.