Transitional Federal Parliament

The Transitional Federal Parliament of the Somali Republic (; often Baarlamaanka Federaalka Soomaaliya) is an interim Parliament of Somalia formed in neighboring Kenya in 2004.

The Transitional Federal Parliament has 550 members representing Somalia's clans, Islamist opposition, representatives of citizens' groups and the Somali diaspora.

Overview

The Transitional Federal Parliament had 275 member, with each of Somalia's four major clans getting 61 seats in the parliament, while an alliance of minority clans was awarded 31 seats. The Charter also dictates that at least 12% of the Parliament shall be women (Article 29).

The composition was changed as part of the meeting to elect a new president in late January 2009; the size of the parliament was doubled to include 200 representatives from the Islamist opposition and 75 reprentatives of citizens' groups and diaspora representatives.

One of the formal de jure powers vested in the Parliament according to the Transitional Federal Charter (Article 5) is the governance and administration of Mogadishu as the capital city. However, in actuality this power de facto lies in the hands of particular warlords, many of whom are also members of parliament. De facto the state is in anomie with only loose governmental structures.

On February 26, 2006 the parliament first met inside Somalia, in the city of Baidoa, 260 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu. 210 lawmakers of...
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