By Daha Farah

Day after day, the ignorance and lack of vision of the president and his cronies is becoming clearer to the Somaliland people. The latest desperate temptation to gain popularity by announcing new Regions and districts is clearly the beginning of the demise of a government lacking leadership and direction. Whether they mean it or not, they are treating the citizens like children.

Let us take and explore the viability of some of the so called new regions and districts announced recently by president Riyale; for example; the distance between Magalo-cad and Wajale is less than 10 miles while Dila and Magala-cad are less than 8 miles apart, can anyone believe there are 3 districts in a 15 mile zone? This is an empty campaign trick based on tribal lines that will only add insult to injury.

This government has until today, failed to draw the borders between the districts announced 8 years ago. Announcing new ones will only endanger the peace and stability and can instigate tribal conflict in the area surrounding the Wajale crash programme which is 100% Gabiley territory. If Riyale wants to divide and add some of it to Awdal through his Magala-cad constituency, he is gambling on a dangerous game that could ignite a president’s own making civil war.

It took us 10 years to reach agreement on how to divide the 82 seats of the lower house for the six regions, I don’t think we will be able agree to change that agreement easily.

I believe it is crucial for all of us to act now and stop this evil proposal before it strikes our only resource, the peace and tranquility. We have already seen certain tribes reject it outright and this means a conflict with their neighbor tribe is already a possibility if not anticipated with proper solution.

The Role opposition political Parties and Parliament should play:

The people of this country are aware of the continuous and persistent breaches of the constitution by the current president, his lack of vision and leadership as well as his violations of the citizen’s rights. They need a regime change and will back you in any effort to resist the implementation of fruitless campaign policies like this one. They will support heroic moves to safeguard our neglected more important national interests, but they expect a solid leadership that can confront the implementation of this vague proposal. However, it is important to note that if you fail to provide that leadership, this could unfortunately be the end of our short but eventful history as a nation and you will bear a fair share of the responsibility.

May 14, 2008 is the last day of Dahir’s presidency and from that day, the nation is expecting a different setup, one which must be lead by a neutral figure. Such interim setup should lead us to a fairly contested elections participated by all political organizations including Qaran. I am with the constitution and declare that on May 15, Dahir is not my president anymore, simply because his term will expire the day before. This should be taken seriously and any attempt to hold on to power by force should be met with equal or stronger force.

There is no Guurti that has the mandate of the people to extend Dahir’s term and they shouldn’t try to stand against the tide of change if they really need a future for their children and this nation.

What should the people do?

The time for tolerance is over as this regime is putting the nation at serious risk in order to delay the change we opted for. We want to get rid of this corrupt regime in the ballot box. Therefore, we should offer all kind of support to those calling for a more democratic and law abiding government with genuine ideas for aggressive but more tolerant and transparent political leadership. We want elections in time.

This vague proposal of new regions and districts will only lead to more tribal conflicts on land and raised taxation on the poor to fund the installation of a hand picked UDUB administration in these areas. All Somalilanders should unite in compelling this regime to withdraw this empty proposal.

Come on Somaliland, it is time for change