To Open A New Political Party In Somaliland, I OPPOSE! It Is A Slow Erosion Of Our Infant Political Tradition

By Ahmed Egal

To my surprise, I've just read on the internet that a New Political party has been launched in Somaliland! If that is true, I OPPOSE! We have witnessed the 89 political parties who went to polls in 1968, and the aftermath disaster. To open a new political party is to open a Pandora’s Box. It is a slow erosion of our infant political tradition. It is a shameful greed of power yearning of politicians. To call for a new political party in Somaliland is nothing less than a symptomatic failure of someone’s power lust.

It should not be up to a greed driven politicians to decide whether or not to call for a new political venture. Politicians are supposed to be public servants, but instead if they just embark on calling whatever comes to their obsessed mind and open private dens, it doesn’t work.

The people of Somaliland developed their traditional democratic political system knowing how it works and what its shortcomings and dangers were. Through stages, they devised a system that looks superficially like other democracies but operate differently, a system that's proved to be quite resilient.

True, there are some side effects pertaining to the stagnant leadership of the three political parties. For example, chairpersons of the three political parties of UCID, Kulmiye, and UDUB should be open for change and give chances to others. Unfortunately they operate as canteens owned by certain personalities. However, this must not warrant calling for opening new political parties at will!

This problem could be solved, not by opening political parties but, if the people would just stand for their right and ask for a change in the leadership of their political parties, and say no to the relentless power grab of the party leadership, which is nothing less than totalitarian, then any citizen can get his/her chance. Failure to shakeup your party must not license you to chicken away and resort to open a den.

There might be time in the future when Somaliland will need to revise and overhaul its political system. The current one is based on tradition and culture and is possibly open to limited abuse and constraints.

I think any one or group who thinks to dismantle the present setup of national political parties in Somaliland is deluded. To open new parties is deranging the successes of Somaliland. This country needs no more political parties. It is time for the people to stop any self-styled group, who encroaches into the agreed setup, and say loud that, “We are not going to take any more of a ludicrous self-indulgence”.

<ahegal@yahoo.com> 

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