Recent political developments herald ‘new era’ for Somalia – UN envoy

All Somalis should grasp the opportunity presented by the election of the country’s new president and other recent political developments to rebuild the strife-torn nation, which has been plagued by violence and humanitarian suffering for too long, said a top United Nations official.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said the creation of an enlarged Parliament and the election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed “in a fair and open manner” marked a new beginning for the country.

“We are now in a new era – there can no longer be a ‘winner takes all’ attitude,” Mr. Ould-Abdallah wrote in a letter to the Somali diaspora. “Instead the emphasis should be on cooperation between the Somali leaders.”

The new President is expected appoint a prime minister and form a government of national unity, in a bid to bring stability to a nation that has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

“The hope is that the Somali Parliament, the new Government and all supporters will be able to return to Somalia next week,” said the Special Representative.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah called on those outside the process to take this “historic” opportunity to join in, adding “there is room for them.”

Both Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have welcomed the election of the new President, while voicing concern about the security situation in Somalia.

Violence has continued in recent months despite the signing in June 2008 of the UN-facilitated Djibouti Agreement, under which the Transitional Federal Government (TGF) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) – led by the new President – agreed to end their conflict.