Sanity prevails in Somaliland

EDITORIAL

Just when it seemed as if the crisis in Somaliland would get deeper and deeper, Somalilanders managed to find a way out. It came in the form of a nine-member committee who took the initiative and offered their services to mediate the nasty conflict that had paralyzed political life in the country. Once their offer to mediate was accepted by the main protagonists in the conflict, the committee set out to work without much fanfare, and soon enough they were able to persuade the various sides to accept an agreement composed of three binding clauses and six recommendations.

This was no mean achievement, especially given the advanced stage of hostility and mutual recrimination that was prevalent among the competing actors in this drama.

But like all agreements the real test is in the implementation, and so far the signs are encouraging. Parliament has already taken a step toward meeting its part of the agreement by scheduling a session for August 26, 2007 in which it will vote again on the two previously rejected nominees to the electoral commission.

The president not only accepted the agreement but he also invited the members of the mediating committee for a luncheon the next day as a token of appreciation for their good work. Whether the president is complying or not with the clause regarding the budget will not be immediately clear, and will only be publicly known the next time parliament discusses the issue and facts and figures are examined. The matter of Qaran leaders has two aspects: (a) their release from jail; (b) their political status. Their release from jail is much easier to fulfill since the accord the president reached with the mediation committee amounts to a pardon. But the long-term question of their political status (and that of their party) still remains to be settled.

The committee did not directly address the question of the political status of Qaran leaders or Qaran Party, and rightly so, since that was beyond their writ; however, they did point the way toward a solution. First by restoring to Qaran leaders their political rights, and, second, by saying that the issue which they have raised should be given due consideration once their freedom is restored. In other words, Somaliland’s stakeholders should begin a dialogue about political parties and related constitutional matters.

Given the fact that most of the clauses in the agreement required concessions from the president, some might say that the president lost and his opponents won. But that would be an erroneous reading because it would have been fatal for the president’s political future for the logjam to continue and the date of elections to get nearer and nearer. What the mediation committee did, in effect, is that it gave the president and all the concerned parties a formula for climbing down from their positions without losing face.

A question that is often asked is why did the Gurti fail in mediating this conflict and the mediation committee succeed? Answer: the Gurti were a part of this conflict but the mediation committee was not. No disrespect to the Gurti, but this time they dropped the ball. However, Somaliland is lucky, and when that happens, its other sons, daughters, and institutions pick up the ball, run with it and score. This time it was the turn of Hadrawi, Dirir, Gaarriye, Gees (Academy for Peace and Development) , Suleiman Guleed ( Amoud University), Ismail Hurre, Adan Abokor, Muhammad Adan and Said Mahmud, and they scored big. Three cheers for them

Source: Somaliland Times

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