Is Somaliland suddenly
sliding into an abyss?
This
young country has seen difficult times in the past but there is
nothing like the arcane situation that it suddenly found itself in
the weeks leading up to the elections. With the presidential
elections already delayed twice a nd so much at stake with
regards to the stability and the international sta nce of this
country, we are suddenly sliding down to an abyss and the opti
ons are running out.
It was recently that a friend of mine had the privilege of taking
part of a conference held in Cardiff last week by the ethnic groups
living in Wales (UK) and among the dignitaries was David Miliband,
the UK Foreign Secreta ry who was asked a question about the
UK aid to Somaliland. Intriguingly he did not give much detail other
than the 40% & 50% ratio for Somaliland and Somalia respectively but
he went straight to the current issue of upc oming elections.
He said ‘the presidential elections have been delayed sev eral
times in the past two years and now it looks as though it is going
to be delayed yet again by the mismanagement of the government’.
This is just an indicative of how the international community is
concerned about the direction that the country is heading to despite
its historical successes in democracy and rule of law.
In its short history since reclaiming its independence Somaliland
has prided itself of working democracy albeit in its infancy but in
a troubled region. It has come from a long way of establishing of a
ratified constitution, a rule of law and government institutions who
are representative for its people. It is a model that impressed and
won many friends in Africa and elsewhere.
Unfortunately this success story is now being put at risk by an
incompetent president and his lousy government who is showing a
complete disregard to the interest of this nation. The history will
write about Riyale and his tenure but more importantly he has the
choice today to either let things take its course without becoming a
hindrance himself or bring about destruction to the things that has
been built over the decades.
The elections are now only few weeks away but everyday comes with
ever more depressing news and the new events that are unravelling.
The late announcement by the NEC (National Electoral Commission) to
go ahead with the elections without registered ballot system was the
most disappointing of all. And to make matters worst the government
decided to expel the representatives of Interpeace from the country,
after all they were there since 2004.
As it became apparent there was no consultation with the other
national parties such as Kulmiye and UCID whose members are in the
NEC. This exp oses the division among the NEC and how the
government is playing with the very division among them.
Now both the Houses of Parliament and Ghuurti have expressed their
joint concern over the decisions taken by the NEC and the
government’s handing of expelling Interpeace. This is a commendable
act from the two highest institutions in the country and despite the
view of some handful members (Haji Abdi Waraabe etc) the great
majority of the people are with the view taken by the Leaders of the
two Houses.
There is no doubt that we are heading to an uncharted territory and
to very troubling times of uncertainty and continuing
disillusionment over the government’s mismanagement of the upcoming
elections. Aside from the elections it is worth noting that the
Ceelbardaale fiasco can transpire itself a challenge to our security
and stability and in many ways we are where we are on this issue
because of an incompetent president who does not want to resolve the
issue. If he does as some people would say, there was a clear
verdict reached by the Select Members from the Ghuurti House, which
was endorsed by him at the first place.
It is about time that the breadth and the depth of this nation’s
leaders and intellectuals come together for one single joint
purpose. That is safeguar ding the national interest of this
nation in terms of its security, stability and rule of law. The
incumbent leader cares less about this and that is evident of his
recent conduct in pre election decisions of the disqualification of
the voter ballot registration system and the failures in the
Ceelbardaale resolu tion. No wonder his family are now in
Europe for possible political asylum after securing Djiboutian
passport. But perhaps what he does not know is that the world has
changed since Charles Taylor, Mabuto Sessiko et al.
It was Winston Churchill’s quote that ‘if we open a quarrel between
the past and the present we shall find we have lost the future’. We
are running of time and options so it is about time that the two
Houses draw up a contingency plan for salvaging this nation.
1. The elections are looming and the president knows he has lost the
trust of his people and he is ready to do his way at all costs. So
for the sake of our national interest the two Houses need to develop
a fallback strategy that they can nominate a caretaker president,
after all the extended his tenure a couple of times before.
Constitutionally this should not be a difficu lt task to
convince the nation.
2. The disbandment of the current
NEC members especially its leader who has also lost the trust of his
people and national parties alike.
3. The appointment of new NEC members whose skills and experience
are the basis of their selection.
4. Setting up a new timetable for
a free and fair election through voter ballot registration method
and inviting the European as well as the US to help the logistics
and its prep work.
Unfortunately this is the only way we can move forward and turn the
page of tit-for-tat politics between an increasingly authoritarian
style of Riyaale government and the political parties who are being
pushed to the limit. Please rise up to the challenge and think what
you can do for your country, you know that your country needs you
today.
Author: Ahmed Nur
Amin
Senior Professional
Cardiff,
Wales (UK) |
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