Kulmiye & Qaran Form An Alliance Against Rayale

Acting Kulmiye Party Chairman, Muhamad Iskerse

Hargeysa, Somaliland, January 05, 2008 – Kulmiye party and Qaran, the unregistered political association, have formed a joint opposition committee to lead a united political front against President Rayale in the run up to the next general election, scheduled in the summer.

Early in the week, top party officials from Kulmiye and Qaran have been seen converging in Kulmiye’s Hargeysa central headquarters for long hours of behind closed door meetings. According to reports, Kulmiye and Qaran have signed an agreement which outlines joint and coordinated efforts to defeat the incumbent government in the coming elections.

SL Times interviewed the acting Kulmiye Party Chairman, Muhamad Iskerse, on Tuesday, about the joint committee forged by Kulmiye and Qaran (Mr Iskerse is standing-in for Ahmed M Silanyo, who is currently away in Makka for the annual Hajj). The interview was conducted at Kulmiye’s head office in Hargeysa.

SL Times: For the past few days, leading Kulmiye and Qaran party officials have been holding closed-door meetings in your party headquarters, and according to reports, Kulmiye and Qaran have formed a joint inter-party committee to unite as an opposition-coalition against the government. Is this true?

Iskerse: Yes, this is correct. Our meetings with Qaran officials discussed ways we could unite our political stand and opposition against the present government, and from these talks with Qaran came out the formation of a joint opposition inter-party committee, we named this joint committee ‘Saving this Nation’.

SL Times: We have been told that you nominated members representing your party to sit on this committee, and Qaran nominated some members, how many members will be sitting on this committee from your party and Qaran?

Iskerse: Yes, I nominated our part of the committee. We have six members representing Kulmiye in the committee and Qaran has also six, and the total number of the joint committee is twelve. This joint committee will be working to save this nation from this government’s dictatorial direction and this joint-committee has already begun its work

SL Times: Is it true that you and Qaran have agreed that the person to head/chair the committee will be from Kulmiye and the vice-chair from Qaran and the secretary nominated/elected by the committee members?

Iskerse: No, this is not correct. Its been agreed that the twelve nominated joint committee members comprising of Kulmiye and Qaran party will nominate from themselves the chair, vice-chair and secretary of the committee. We have left the leadership and division of the executive make-up of the committee to the twelve members.

SL Times: It’s been said that your discussions with Qaran officials looked at how to merge Qaran with Kulmiye, is this true?

Iskerse: Let me say that our discussions and the things we agreed on, all took the form and shape of how we can change/get rid of Rayale’s administration and save this nation from this government’s destruction. We promised Qaran that we will help them to determine every legal and lawful Constitutional avenue that gives them the right to form a political organisation and participate in the country’s political arena and its institutions. We will leave no stone unturned in determining what the law says regarding Qaran. And this needs a competent court of law. Our high court is not up to this task because it’s the president who directs their judgements and not what the law states. We have no fear of Qaran becoming a registered political organisation, but what we do believe, as Kulmiye party, that the law should be followed and dispensed with according to its articles……End

Although Kulmiye and Qaran have not made public the articles of their joint opposition agreement or details of their election coalition agenda against president Rayale and his government, nonetheless, sources close to Kulmiye and Qaran have established that the main theme in this agreement signed by the two oppositions revolves round a united front working for the removal of Rayale in the coming general election and that the election takes place on schedule and is not postponed again, for a second time.

Source: Somaliland Times