Somaliland: A Shipwreck Derided by All Somalis

There is no better proof of Somaliland’s foretold failure and impending collapse than the comprehensive analyses several leading Somali political analysts produce.

As I have recently received a great number of mails full of comments, questions, congratulations, attacks, insults and eulogies, I intend to make public most of the stuff, at times answering, at times commenting; the great number of mails and the variety of the approaches to my publications reveal the astuteness of the Somali people, and the vulgarity of the scarce supporters and agents of the criminal and lawless regime of tyrant Riyale, the shameful puppet of the Neo-Nazi tyrant Zenawi of Abyssinia.

Before that, I want to focalize on a brilliant, laconic and convincing refutation of the Somaliland Shame, an excellent text written by a broadminded and shrewd political commentator, Mr. Jama Mohamed Ghalib. I believe his text epitomizes the political reasons for which Somaliland has sunk and will never recover.

When the corruption is ubiquitous and the bias has become the norm, tyrannical rulers turn out to be wounded animals that carry out inhuman policies and unacceptable atrocities. As this contravenes Human Nature, the outright majority turns against them. Then, the next stage, the final decomposition, is imminent.

The present degeneration of the illegal pseudo-state Somaliland had to be expected. No state can survive with such an anti-democratic "constitution"; the biases therein enclosed are solemnly revealed by Mr. Jama Mohamed Ghalib. His text consists in a rejection of an earlier Open Letter; yet, it reserves an admirable integrity and consistency, and that’s why I re-publish it integrally.

For all those who are not acquainted with Horn of Africa politics, Mr. Jama Mohamed Ghalib’s text is a real Guide in the Shipwreck Somaliland.

When the pseudo-constitution of a bogus-country is based on the twin pillars of Lawlessness and Iniquity, the expiry date falls just yesterday.

All to Whom It May Concern
By Jama Mohamed Ghalib

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2008/330/29.shtml

Reference is being made of Mr. Bashir Goth’s recently published Open Letter.

Bashir deserves some degree of commendation for dwelling upon an important debate of immense public interest. He has proffered a great deal of both pertinent advices and warnings.

However, there are some undisguised ‘Udub’ biases quite perceivable in Bashir’s Dickensian like discourse. He has at best forgotten or at worst ignored to mention some current issues of serious dimensions and likely to undermine peace and stability that Bashir seems to hold dearly.

First, the flagrant denial of Qaran’s participation in the political process of the country is an outrageous folly to say the least of it.

Udub, the ruling entity and its allies, the architects of such denial invoke a provision of the so-called constitution that is said limits the number of political parties to only three, a number that already exists. The limitation only makes sense if its genuine intention is to avoid proliferation of political parties that may prejudice good governance and the body politic as was once the case before in the distant past.

But on the contrary, the limitation should not have been used as a cover for the three existing parties to monopolize the political process for ever and the disenfranchisement of any competitors as the denial of Qaran’s political rights has practically proved, especially under a system so much vaunted as being democratic.

Qaran’s case is believed to be subjudice under the mercy of an Udub entity appointed judge, but local observers are not the least optimistic of any fair outcome.

A constitution that permits such monopolization of the political process by only a small group and the disenfranchisement of the majority at large is not an appropriate legal framework, but a farce.

Again, a constitution that also denies independents to stand for election is equally farcical. The monopolization is a modified version of the decadent one-party system that had once plagued the African continent with disastrous consequences of which the Somali experience has become the worst example.

One of the essences of democracy is that once in every few years the citizens of a country must all have an equal opportunity to freely vote for and elect candidates of their own choice (s).

The present system denies them that freedom of choice. The electorate can only vote for candidates of the monopolistic three parties. Their only other option is to abstain. The possibilities of resolving present crises are simple, but the prerequisite leadership to benefit from these possibilities may be lacking.

A conventional wisdom would suggest the holding of a preliminary pre-election voting exercise to be competed among any number of political parties including the three existing ones, but without candidates standing, for the sole object of determining the top ‘three’ parties. Or alternatively, the results of municipal elections to be competed by any number of political parties that should normally precede the political elections can be utilized for the same purpose and less expensive, in the same way that the three existing parties had come into being.

Foreign governments and institutions that are believed poised funding such elections would be best advised to condition their support for a genuine democratic system and not a one recipe for disharmony and eventual instability.

Secondly, there have been a recent proliferation of the creation of both provincial and district capitals for a sheer electioneering folly on the part of Udub. Small district centres whimsically and without planning become provincial capitals and small villages become district capitals, most of them with no dept of areas under their administrative supervision. Most of them are incapable of raising the necessary revenue for their running costs, much less for development.

The result is only one of fragmentation of the administrative structures that undermine the necessary cohesion for development and economic growth. The whole area of the former British Somaliland Protectorate is 68,000 square miles. The administrative structure left behind by the British was two provincial capitals with six district capitals. The numbers of both entities have already more than doubled since independence, especially under the military regime. The recent proliferation makes the overall structure four-fold, wasteful and unviable.

Thirdly, some time ago, Riyale unilaterally extended the term of office for the members of the so-called ‘Guurti’ (the upper house of parliament) with no legal empowerment vested in him and without ever seeking the confirmation of the elected institution, the House of Representatives.

As a quid pro quo, the ‘Guurti’ in their wake have created a pandemonium by extending the period of Riyale’s term of office, again without any legal empowerment, that is likely to endanger peace and stability. Both these acts are clearly mutual prior agreements of corrupt practices by the two sides, despite the lavish praises Bashir showered on them.

And fourthly, and lastly, Bashir urges voters to beware of foreign passport holders, but not Riyale and his Udub cohorts. Ironically, none of the contesting foreign passport holders are known to have committed any similar abuses to those of Riyale and the Guurti.

Jama Mohamed Ghalib
E-Mail:jamaghalib@yahoo.com

Note
Picture: Somaliland, Riyale and his custody – the most trustworthy representation