Abdiweli Gaas

Abdiweli Mohamed Ali GaasBriefing to the Security Council
- website of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) ( ; ; ), also more known as Abdiweli Gaas, is a Somali American economist and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Somalia from June 2011 to October 2012, and briefly afterwards as an MP in the newly formed Federal Parliament. During his time as premier, Ali is credited with having devised the formal "Roadmap for the End of Transition", a political process that provided clear benchmarks leading toward the establishment of permanent democratic institutions in the country. On 8 January 2014, he was elected the 5th President of the Puntland.

During his tenure as the state's President, Gaas launched a new biometric fishery database, strengthened bilateral cooperation with the European Union in the security and development sectors, initiated taxation reform with regard to international organizations working in Puntland, established a new mutual consulate agreement with Yemen, finalized a five-year development plan for Puntland, strengthened bilateral cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and Australia, launched new road, airport and seaport development initiatives in Bosaso and other local areas in conjunction with Djibouti, China and UNHABITAT officials, and successfully concluded the Galgala campaign against the Al-Shabaab militant group. He also signed a 12-point bilateral agreement in Garowe, which officially reaffirms Puntland's boundaries, agrees to form a united and inclusive national army, and establishes parliamentary committees consisting of Federal and Puntland representatives to ensure equitable allocation of resources and oversee eventual Provisional Constitution talks. Additionally, Ali led Puntland delegations at global business and development conferences in Ethiopia and the United Kingdom, with the goal of highlighting the regional state's commercial potential, establishing business partnerships, and securing funding and mega development projects in the energy, agricultural and security sectors. He also established a governmental committee to formulate an official money remittance policy for the Puntland regional state.

Background

Personal life

Gaas is originally from Puntland state in northeastern Somalia. He holds both Somali and American citizenship. He is multilingual, being fluent in Somali, Arabic, Italian and English.

Gaas is married to Hodan Isse, founder of HEAL, and university professor. The couple have four children.lady of somalia.pdf First Lady of Somalia
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Education

Gaas initially studied in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. Here he earned a BA degree ''summa cum laude'' in Economics from the Somali National University in 1984. Gaas later moved to the United States for his post-graduate studies, and in 1988, he obtained an MA degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University as an AFGRAD Fellow. He then was a Bradley Fellow at George Mason University, first in the Department of Economics between 1994 and 1995, then at the Center for Study of Public Choice between 1995 and 1998. He also conducted his doctoral research at this university where obtained his PhD degree in economics in 2000. Besides this, in 1999, he furthermore obtained an MA degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a Certificate in Taxation from Harvard Law School.

Career

General

In a professional capacity, Gaas served as a Director in the Excise Tax Department of Somalia's federal Ministry of Finance and Revenue in the mid- to late 1980s. Between 1988 and 1991, he was an Assistant Director in Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.

He later moved to Niagara County in New York state, where he was an Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Commerce of Niagara University, having joined the school in 2003.

His main academic areas of concentration have been in public finance, public choice and international trade. Gaas' current research endeavors center around the impact that institutions have on economic growth.

Gaas has written articles for many peer-reviewed journals, including the ''Journal of Business and Economics Research'', ''International Advances in Economic Research'', and the ''Journal of Public Choice''. In 2001, his paper titled "Political stability, stable economic policies and growth: An empirical investigation" that was published in the ''Atlantic Economic Journal'' was given the year's Best Article Award.

Transitional Federal Government

On 12 June 2010, Gaas was appointed the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation as well as one of several deputy prime ministers. Selected for the position by the former premier Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, he served as an integral part of a technocratic Cabinet.

Prime Minister of Somalia

Appointment

On 19 June 2011, Gaas was appointed the Acting Premier of Somalia after Prime Minister Mohamed abruptly resigned from office as part of a controversial agreement signed in Kampala between the President and the Parliament Speaker. A few days later, on 23 June 2011, Gaas was named permanent prime minister.

Lawmakers welcomed Gaas' nomination and reaffirmed their opposition to and intention of repealing the Kampala Accord.

In a session held on 28 June 2011, Members of Parliament overwhelmingly approved Ali's appointment as prime minister. 337 of the MPs endorsed the selection, while 2 voted against it and 2 abstained.

On 23 July 2011, Parliament unanimously endorsed Prime Minister Gaas' selection of new Cabinet officials. The ministerial posts were expanded to include an additional 9 state ministers and 26 deputy ministers, bringing a total of 53 federal ministers.

2011 drought

On 4 July 2011, in one of his first policy initiatives, Gaas appointed a national committee to tackle the severe drought that was then affecting large parts of the country and the larger East Africa region. The committee consisted of several federal-level members of government, including the Ministers of Defense, Health, Interior, Finance, Public Works, Women's Affairs and Information. It was tasked with assessing and addressing the needs of the drought-impacted segments of the population.Somalia: Government names national drought committee

Special Force

In August 2011, Prime Minister Gaas announced the creation of a new Special Force (SP) division of the Somali National Army (SNA). Consisting of 300 trained soldiers, the unit was initially mandated with protecting relief shipments and distribution centers in Mogadishu. Besides helping to stabilize the city, the new protection force was also tasked with combating banditry and other vices.

Linda Nchi

In October 2011, a coordinated operation between the Somalian military and the Kenyan military referred to as Linda Nchi began, with Kenyan troops crossing the border into southern Somalia in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants that are alleged to have kidnapped several foreign tourists and workers inside Kenya. Prime Minister Ali along with President of Somalia Sharif Ahmed initially opposed the deployment of Kenyan troops into the country, as they felt it was a breach of an earlier joint defence pact reached with the Kenyan government that limited Kenya's support to logistical activities. On 31 October, a Somalian delegation led by Prime Minister Ali met in Nairobi with the Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga and other government officials to iron out differences and to outline a joint strategy vis-a-vis Operation Linda Nchi. After lengthy talks, the delegations issued a joint communique pledging coordinated military, political and diplomatic support for the mission, requesting that AMISOM peacekeepers police areas captured from Al-Shabaab, and that the International Criminal Court (ICC) begin formal investigations against the group's commanders.Somalia government supports Kenyan forces' mission
In addition, Prime Minister Gaas urged the international community to support the joint operation, and stated that the mission "would be led by Somali forces with support of Kenyan forces". The two delegations also formed a joint high-level co-ordinating committee to maintain regular contacts between their respective governments.

In early June 2012, Kenyan forces were formally integrated into AMISOM. Analysts expect the additional AU troop reinforcements to help the Somali authorities gradually expand their territorial control.

Marine forces

On 7 August 2012, Prime Minister Gaas announced that his government was set to re-establish the Somali Navy, which had disbanded shortly after the outbreak of the civil war in the early 1990s. Speaking to reporters in the capital, the Premier indicated that his administration wanted to create a well-trained national marine force capable of efficiently patrolling Somalia's territorial waters and putting an end to the illegal plunder of the country's resources by foreign companies and nations. He also indicated that he had asked the international community to support the Somali government's extant efforts aimed at developing its maritime defensive capacity, including the possibility of acquiring speed boats and warships to more effectively secure the country's extensive seaboard.

Post-transition Roadmap

Prime Minister Gaas has been credited with devising the formal "Roadmap for the End of Transition", a political process that provided clear benchmarks leading toward the establishment of permanent democratic institutions in Somalia by mid-2012, when the Transitional Federal Government's mandate expired.

In February 2012, the Premier and other Somali government officials met in the northeastern town of Garowe