NAIROBI, 6 July 2003 — Somali delegates at peace talks made a “major breakthrough” in efforts to form a new government to reunite the fractured country yesterday when they agreed on the size of a Parliament, mediators said.
Rows between Somalia’s warring factions over the size of a new Parliament have delayed the setting up of a new interim government in the Horn of Africa country, plunged into chaos by rival clan-based warlords more than a decade ago.
Mediators said delegates at the talks in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi — Somalia’s 14th peace initiative in 10 years — had agreed to form a 351-member Parliament. The size of the assembly had been a key sticking point.
Participants agreed that the assembly, to be known as the Transitional Parliament, would have a duration of four years and have its members selected by political leaders who signed a peace deal in Kenya in October. Leaders officially invited by mediators will also participate in the process.
Mediators said the agreement would pave the way for establishing a government to reunite the country of seven million people, saying the selection of members of the new Parliament should begin soon.
“The government that will be formed will focus on reconciliation and peace-building. Regions that are having peace now should be strengthened,” said Kenya’s chief negotiator at the talks, Bethuel Kiplagat, in a statement.
Mediators said delegates had agreed to set up a federal system to reunite Somalia — currently carved into rival fiefdoms by warlords — with a president elected by Parliament.
A prime minister will be appointed by the president for what will be known as the Transitional Federal Government of The Republic of Somalia. The premier will form the government.
The peace talks began last October, bringing more factions together than ever before. Many previous attempts to end the conflict have failed, defeated by wrangling between rival clans.
The new government is supposed to take over from a previous Transitional National Government (TNG), set up in 2000 to try restore some stability.
Meanwhile, Kenya has lifted a ban it imposed last month on flights to and from neighboring Somalia, National Security Minister Chris Murungaru said in a statement released here yesterday.
