"I welcome the Prime Minister’s nomination. Now the Parliament must make its
decision, as per the Provisional Federal Constitution.

"I am delighted that momentum has not been lost, and that government activities have
continued during the past few weeks. Several important and urgent issues have been
resolved, including the nomination of the Boundaries and Federation Commission and
the nomination of the Oversight Committee members of the Independent Constitutional
Review and Implementation Commission. Last week, we successfully hosted the first
IGAD meeting to be held in Mogadishu in 24 years. Military progress has continued,
and humanitarian and stabilisation activities continue apace.

"The past two years have seen much ‘behind the scenes’ work to create a functioning
government. We must now urgently deliver on priority legislation, the establishment
of the remaining commission, and facilitate the public consultations that will
enable us to achieve the three intertwined strands of Vision 2016: the revision of
the Constitution, state formation and preparing for national elections.

"The government must deliver improvements that impact the lives of Somalis. This
means we must ensure the roll-out of stabilisation initiatives that connect the
government to citizens, finally defeat al-Shabaab, root out corruption, build
mechanisms to capture revenue that is then used to provide schools for our children,
to create jobs for our young people and to ensure healthcare for our families. We
must extract and put to good use Somalia’s ample natural resources for the good of
all, and ensure the right environment for the private sector to flourish.

"The new government has a long list of priorities ahead of it, priorities that will
require robust decision-making and a commitment to making things happen quickly. To
that end, I look forward to the proposed Council of Ministers and the Ministers and
their ministry teams swiftly getting down to business.”