President Rayale Shows His True Colors

Hargeysa, Somaliland, September 15, 2007 (SL Times) – In a press conference held on Tuesday in Maansoor hotel, Hargeysa, the arbitration committee which mediated last month the long stand-off between the president and the lower house of parliament has called on president Rayale to fulfill his part of the committee’s three point accord.

The chairman of the arbitration committee, M I Warsame (Hadrawi) along with a leading member of the committee M H Dhama (Gaariye) urged the president to honor the promise and pledge made to the arbitration committee where he had initially agreed to release the detained Qaran party leaders and accept the implementation of the 2007 national budget which was amended by the lower house of parliament early in the year.

The agreement that the arbitration committee persuaded the president and the lower house chair committee to accept had these clauses: (1) The lower house of parliament would vote a second time on the upper house nominated electoral commission candidates; (2) The president accepts the 2007 national budget amended by the lower house of parliament, 3). The detained Qaran leaders should be released unconditionally and their political freedoms should be restored.

In the press conference, Hadrawi and Gaarriye said they were dismayed that the president has decided to back-out of the agreement after the lower house of parliament had fulfilled its part of the pledge thus ending a long-standing dispute between the government and the lower house of parliament over the electoral commission candidates.

President Rayale, in a meeting held last Saturday with the arbitration committee, made it known to them that he is in no position to endorse the 2007 national budget amended by the lower house [in it’s entirety] and that he was prepared to pardon and release the detained Qaran leaders, only after receiving, a written request from them for his presidential pardon.

Hadrawi said, “we are thankful to the lower house for fulfilling its pledge and honoring us and the nation, they deserve our commendation and respect. Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same for the president. The president has stated that there is a formality which cannot allow him to simply release Qaran leaders from their imprisonment because a court of law has made a ruling against them and found them guilty to crimes against the state and that they must first write a request for a presidential pardon before they can be released from prison. Regarding the national 2007 budget amended by the lower house, the president has said that the 2007 budget cannot be implemented by his government at this given moment because the time frame for this budget will almost expire in a few months time and that his government is willing to use only the allocated money for the local elections in the 2007 budget and the money designated in the budget for the conversion of the old Somalia currency to the Somaliland shilling in Buroa and eastern regions.”

Gaariye was more blunt and critical of the president’s stance. He emphasized, “We as the arbitration committee have to tell the truth to the people of this country. We cannot beat around the bush and at the same time say that we mediated and the lower house had fulfilled its pledge to the committee and the nation, while the president, for reasons of formalities could not complete on his part all the points in the accord. I will say and state that the president has failed the nation and has broken his pledge to the arbitration committee. The president has not fulfilled what he had pledged to us and the nation. The lower house of parliament has accomplished what they pledged to us and the nation and I honor them for doing this. I give my sincerest advice to the president. Mr. President, you cannot continue to lead this nation without being true to your words and the law of the land. We are all witnesses to what happened to Siyad Barre when he thought that he could do whatever his folly desired, and you’re bound to end up worse than the fate of Siyad Barre because he had a strong and powerful state which was recognized internationally. You have a state which is weak and impoverished. Mr. President, I advise that the little we have put together in Somaliland that you don’t rip it apart to pieces and destroy it for the mere sake of wanting to be seen as strong and resolute. Be brave and save this nation from those around you who are bent on misleading you with their crooked and fabricated lies. Listen to our advice, we are not ministers, nor do we want to be, nor are we seeking financial reward from you. We just want you to be honored and respected by the very people you lead as their president. Do the right thing and take our advice by releasing the Qaran leaders from prison without tying any conditions to their release, the same applies for the 2007 national budget amended by parliament.”

Source: Somaliland Times