Parliament adjourned for a week

Sharif Hassan Shaykh Aden, speaker of the Somali transitional federal parliament, adjourned the session for one week on Monday to give members of parliament time to consult individually. The opening ceremony of the first session of parliament to be convened inside Somalia since the transitional government was established in late 2004 had been held on Sunday. "The adjournment was something we all agreed on," said parliamentarian Isak Muhammad Nur. There is a need for members who have not been in the same venue "to resolve any personal differences before we get into difficult discussions about policy and other issues", he added. "There was an overall agreement within the top leadership [president, prime minister and speaker] to thrash out contentious issues before they were brought to the floor of the parliament," said Muhammad Ali, a former Somali MP. One MP said parliament is expected to debate some controversial issues when it reconvenes, including a request by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) for peacekeeping troops and the role of Somalia's immediate neighbours in such a force. The leaders of the TFG "were afraid that some MPs were preparing to bring a no-confidence vote," said a source in parliament who requested anonymity. "They basically want to avoid anything that would create a confrontation and make sure that any agenda presented had the support of most MPs."