Somali MPs from shared regions competed zero-sum for ministerial posts

Evidence

A further liability for the Hussen regime was the impossibility of accommodating particularistic political demands by MPs. Characteristic of intraparliamentary politics, members who came from the same region or electoral district competed for the same ministerial post and other scarce resources. Each tried to outmaneuver the other, and failing that, each attempted to deny the other any post. The only acceptable scenario was if both MPs gained similar appointments or none (a zero-sum affair). Once one became a minister, the other joined the opposition. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 930