Sanaa: Yemen's Prime Minister-designate
Mohammed Basindawa on Wednesday said he had finalised his new unity
government and would disclose the line-up later in the day.
"The government has been formed and we will announce it
formally this evening," Basindawa said in the Yemeni
capital Sanaa.
"We have agreed on all the names," he added.
Half of the new cabinet ministers will be from the
opposition, while loyalists of embattled President Ali
Abdullah Saleh will make up the other half, a condition
stipulated in the Gulf brokered power-transfer deal signed by
Saleh on November 23.
Yemen's opposition Common Forum spokesman Mohammed Qahtan
said last week that Saleh loyalists would keep the
ministries of defence, foreign affairs, oil,
telecommunications and civil services.
He said the opposition meanwhile would head the
ministries of interior, finance, cooperation, information and
human rights.
The newly formed transitional cabinet will carry-out
government duties for three months, after which elections will
be held and Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi will formally
take over the presidency.
The Gulf Cooperation Council plan, which is backed by the
United Nations, forced Saleh to hand over power to Hadi in
return for immunity from prosecution for him and his family.
The GCC deal also allows Saleh to remain honorary
president until Hadi's election.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 18:54