31 Jan 31, 2007
Sh. Adan Madobe, the new Speaker, has historically been closely associated with Ethiopia
BAIDOA, Somalia Jan 31 (Garowe Online) - Hundreds of people took to Baidoa streets Wednesday afternoon following the election of parliament’s new Speaker, Sheikh Adan “Madobe” Mohamed.
Supporters cheered triumphantly and waved boards displaying pictures of the new Speaker after parliament’s Deputy Speaker Osman Elmi Boqorre announced the tally.
Madobe received 154 votes, while his closest runner-up, Ibrahim Kishbur, got 54, with another 6 votes disqualified for technical reasons.
Both President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi were present at Wednesday’s vote.
Yusuf returned from the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, which ended yesterday with the AU falling short of providing the 8,000-strong peacekeeping force desired for Somalia.
Madobe ran unsuccessfully for Speaker in 2004 but lost to Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.
Adan, who has yet to set foot in Somalia since Ethiopia’s military intervention, lost his parliamentary leadership post on January 17.
Speaker Madobe, 51, was born in Bakool region and studied Islamic theology during his young adult years.
Before the creation of this interim Somali government, he was a local warlord and a leading member of the RRA faction, which took control of Baidoa and its environs in 1999 with Ethiopian military assistance.
When the RRA splintered in 2002, Madobe camped with the pro-Ethiopia faction. He is also rumored to have close ties to President Yusuf.
Sh. Madobe rises to the post of Speaker as Baidoa became the first Somali city to undergo a nighttime curfew under the new Martial Law plan, according to Premier Gedi.
Garowe Online News
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