Regional deputy blocs bargained presidential support for ministerial exclusions

Evidence

For instance, Hussen thought highly of the administrative capabilities of his Interior minister, Zoppo. Juujo, who was also from the same region, had to be accommodated as minister without portfolio and then as minister of Agriculture to keep the Upper Juba deputies on the government’s side. In the end, the entire Upper Juba delegation, with the exception of two members, asserted that they would support Osman’s presidency if Hussen promised them that Zoppo would not be a minister in his future cabinet. Hussen was in no position to make such a pledge since he was not interested in the premiership and, more relevantly, had no idea whether Osman would even reappoint him. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 930

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete instance of the zero-sum regional patronage politics underlying Somali democratization breakdowns.