Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf says a new cabinet will be named following the resignations of more than one-third of the current body.
Mr. Yusuf announced the move Monday in a speech to parliament. He says Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi will appoint a new 31-minister cabinet within a week.
Many of the officials who resigned complained that the government based in Baidoa is powerless to bring peace. Fighting between the interim government and the Islamist courts based in Somalia's capital has torn the country apart.
Saturday, Ethiopia's foreign minister visited Somalia to meet with Mr. Yusuf about the conflict.
Mr. Gedi has vowed to stay in power despite the mass resignations and a no-confidence vote in parliament that he narrowly defeated last month.
An Islamic militia currently controls the capital and much of the south.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.