Parliamentary lists still awaited

The Digle-Mirifle is the final clan grouping to hand in a list of agreed nominees for the proposed Transitional National Assembly (TNA) at the Djibouti-hosted Somali National Peace Conference. The conference has been urged by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh to hold the first sitting of the assembly by the weekend. Meanwhile, two sub-clans, the Ogaden and the Murusade, have refused to accept the decision of the Arbitration Committee set up by the conference. The Murusade, part of the major Hawiye grouping, rejected the four seats allocated to them in the proposed Transitional National Assembly, and negotiations are continuing with clan elders, sources at the conference told IRIN. The Ogaden, a sub-clan of the Darood grouping, have threatened to leave the conference after being given seven seats. The four major clans - Darood, Hawiye, Digil-Mirifle and Dir - have been allocated 44 seats to divide up among sub-clans; the Alliance of Minorities has 24 seats, and the Women’s group has 25 seats. The Women’s group has decided, after weeks of debate, to divide their seats according to clan. Two major clans, the Darood and the Hawiye, handed in nomination lists for the proposed Transitional National Assembly (TNA) on Monday. The Darood gives 55 percent share of its allocated 44 seats to the Harti subclan confederation, sources at the conference told IRIN. Among this Harti quota of 24 seats, the Majertein has received the lion’s share with 15 seats. The Marehan - clan of former president Mohamed Siad Barre - received nine seats within the Harti confederation, accounting for 21 percent of the distribution. The Absame - an alliance between the Ogadeni sub-clans and smaller Darood communities - have been granted seven seats, giving them 16 percent. Within the Hawiye, the Abgal and the Habir Gidir have emerged dominant. The Abgal and their allies, the Mudulood sub-clan, have 11 seats, representing 25 percent of the clan’s 44 seat quota. The second-largest representation is the Habir Gidir with eight seats, amounting to nearly 18 percent of the Hawiye representation.