Rayale Appeases MPs Opposed to Early Legislative Elections

Rayale Heading For Confrontation With Parliament Over Appointees

Hargeisa (SL – Times) – Somaliland's President, Dahir Rayale Kahin, still has 5 ministers in his cabinet more than 2 months after they had been denied confirmation by the House of Representatives.

The appointees who failed to win sufficient confirmation vote in the House of Representatives, in July 2003, are President Rayale’s designated ministers of Information (Abdillahi Mohamed Dualle), Water & Mineral Resources (Qassim Sheikh Yusuf), Education (Hassan Haji Mohamud Gadhweyne), minister of State for Public Works (Adan M. Deria Rush) and minister of State for Interior (Adan M. Mire Waqaf).

So far, Mr. Rayale has ignored repeated warnings by both the House and the opposition parties that allowing the rejected ministers to continue in their duties is unconstitutional.

The 5 ministers were originally nominated in a government reshuffle by President Rayale, earlier this year, that saw the appointment of a huge cabinet consisting over 45 ministers, and assistant ministers.

Among the 5 ministers that failed to win House confirmation, Mr. Abdillahi M. Duale, who was re-appointed in his previous position as minister of Information, had received the widest margin of the no votes (43).

Ever since joining the government of the late President Egal as Finance minister, Mr. Duale, an SNM veteran, has held a position in the cabinet. He was first recommended to Egal by the SNM’s Calan Cas (Red Flag) faction. But after falling out with the Calan Cas, somewhere in 1995, he became an Egal protégé.

Though Mr. Rayale has indicated his intention to re-nominate the same persons for the 5 portfolios, according to well informed sources, it is the confirmation of only Duale and Qasim Sheikh (Mineral Resources) that the president will try hard to secure when the parliament comes back from recess next month.

The reason why the president wants both of them so bad are not yet quite clear. But merit is ruled out as being the basis for Mr. Rayale’s consideration to hire the two. For one thing, the Information ministry that Dualle headed for the last 3 years now only exists in name. Qasim who is also another veteran minister could hardly claim being the right man for the right job, given his history of ineptitude as shown by his performance record at the various ministerial positions he had held before.
Most political observers agree that the motive behind Mr. Rayale’s insistence on retaining both Duale and Qasim is politically-oriented and personal. Some of these observers even add that the two men could be needed for carrying out clandestine political assignments for the president.

President Rayale’s decision to keep in his cabinet a number of individuals whose appointments were rejected by the House of Representatives, has upset many legislators as well as the opposition. The President’s behavior has been described, by members of Parliament and leaders of the opposition parties, as an unwarranted breach of the constitution, with legislators vowing to hold the president accountable for his alleged violations. Making things worse is the fact that Mr. Duale had issued a decree on Tuesday outlawing the establishment of private TV and Radio Stations in Somaliland. The decree said the government-owned Radio Hargeisa will be the sole locally operated radio broadcasting service permissible in Somaliland. It exempted the privately-owned TV-Somaliland from the ban on a temporary basis.

The decree, rightly seen as another step in violation of the constitution, has prompted some parliamentarians to discuss procedures for indicting and impeaching the president.

Ordinary Somalilanders are already deeply disappointed by Rayale’s grossly incompetent cabinet, the widespread corruption within all levels of government, and the president’s blithe disregard for addressing the country’s pressing economic difficulties and developmental needs. Many of them can't understand why Mr. Rayale who leads a vulnerable government, would seek confrontation with the parliament, the opposition, and even some UDUB supporters.

Meanwhile, Kulmiye’s Senior Vice Chairman, Fagadhe, has called for urgent consultations to be held among the country’s political, traditional and civil society leaders, to address what he described as a number of grave issues: Sool and Eastern Sanag; the repercussions of the current Nairobi talks; the livestock trade in the light of recent Ethiopian measures restricting free movement of animals; the Somaliland president’s retention in the cabinet of individuals who failed to get confirmation in the House of Representatives.

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