By Ahmed S. Mohamed

I want to comment on an article wrote by Mr. Mohamud Tani entitled “The Funny Kulmiye” that was published this week in Somaliland.org. I want to point out that Mr. Tani was selective in the views he quoted in his article. Mr. Tani quoted here the views of certain elements within Kulmiye who, do not represent the thinking of the main stream party members. By being doing so Mr. Tani chose to ignore, or at least did not research enough, the fact that Kulmiye secretary for foreign affairs, Dr. Ahmed H. Essa publicly supported and welcomed the visit of the president. He did so because he knows the visit was a very good step in advancing the cause of Somaliland. In fact he was one of those Somalilanders, who were lobbying for this type of visit behind the scenes for some time. Here I want to underscore that some people, who cannot see the big picture, may interpret this view of Dr Ahmed as being pro UDUB. This has nothing to do with UDUB. It is a national issue and that is why Dr Ahmed was one of the first members of opposition figures to support the president in this.

Now, did the president use the opportunity to advance the cause of Somaliland to its full potential? I do not think so particularly when you reflect on how he excluded the members of the house of parliament and opposition party leaders from his delegation. If he had representation from the oppositions and from the parliament, his trip would have carried a much heavier weight, and would have presented a unified voice of Somaliland . This would have helped a lot, because quite frankly the president lost a lot of respect in international opinion over the past due to his increasingly dictatorial approach to issues.

Again Mr. Tani is talking about the view of a few individuals within Kulmye and presenting them as the views of the party. This is a flawed reasoning because what Mr. Tani is describing is not, and I repeat is not the position of the party.

I want to remind Mr. Tani that Kulmiye is the only party that publicly supports leadership context. Mr. Tani, you are free to support the president and UDUB, but if you are an honest critic look deep into how Riyale and UDUB are running the country. How can you defend the national security laws that Riyale and UDUB use to imprison citizens, who demonstrate peacefully. How can you defend the president who refuses to implement the laws that were passed by the elected legislative assembly. How can you defend a president who recommended the extension of the term of Guurti in violation of the constitution, and now the new press law. The list goes on and on. Look deep within, Mr. Tani.

Ahmed S. Mohamed
Brampton - Canada