By Mowlid Ali Hure

A decade ago Somaliland was seen as young progressive country beginning to rid itself off the shackles of the past troubles. However, Somaliland now enters uncharted territory, with reminiscence of the past looming. The question is where did it all go wrong and what happen to the aspirations of the people? In such short article it is not possible to numerate and analyze all the causal factors that might have regressed Somaliland’s progress, nevertheless, I will attempt to highlight few, which I consider to be the main causal factors as a nonpartisan observer. I will further make recommendations to over come the current collapse of governance and political melt down.

Somaliland’s organic progress:

To mention few of Somaliland’s achievements; It has had a successful reconciliation among its inhabitants and its nation settled their differences which was the result of the rule of the dictatorial regime of then Democratic Republic of Somalia and the effects of ensued civil war; It has overcome early political instabilities and internal tribal feuds which had the potential to destabilize and destroy the hopes of this young country; It has established the institutions of governance and held successful elections; It has established multiparty system paving the way for elected leaders and gave its people the sense and the hope that they can direct and steer their young country to become peaceful and prosperous country.

When we examines the progress that Somaliland has achieved in its infancy years, we find that there were certain characteristics and conditions which propelled its nation, leaders and intellectuals into a progressive mode frame of mind. One such condition was the desire of peaceful coexistence and the fact that power was devolved and not centralized. The condition of devolved power gave people the power to have a say and steer this country of difficult political conditions albeit, through bargaining of clan elders, chieftains and politicians. Moreover, their awareness of the hitherto civil war, the bloodshed and hardships that they faced, propelled them more than anything else to cooperate and create the peaceful conditions. Thus, all parties, public, leaders and politicians were willing partners and were determined to remain firmly focus on the road ahead. Hence every step of afore mentioned progress has been achieved without disruption.

However, in recent years, in particular for the last five years and more so in the last two years Somaliland has become stagnated politically and elections were postponed several times. Consequently the future of Somaliland is set for uncertain future.

The decline of the organic process:

Soon after the first and the last one man one vote presidential elections in which the incumbent president was elected Somaliland saw a glimpse of the difficulties ahead and people’s attitudes towards the progressive path was to some extent altered. Suddenly, people lost their perceived power and the partnership cooperation towards peaceful coexistence became questionable. The bitterly fought election and the campaign conduct of the political parties has affected and significantly contributed to the attitudinal shift and heightened the suspicions of Somaliland’s inhabitants. Thus affording the government to continually prey on people’s fears and pretending to be the upholders of peace as it claims time and again, and daring people to challenge the government. Therefore, one could argue that the multi-party system that was hailed from all quarters to take Somaliland into the next step appeared to have halted the very progress that it was intended to enhance. Up until this point Somaliland’s political achievements and progress has been organic and incremental and lead to the multi-party system. So what happen and why is the system failing Somaliland? The answer to this question is the key to unlocking the darkness that descended onto Somaliland which created the current confusion and uncertainties.

Some have argued that it is president Rayale and his handling of the country’s political and economic affairs, while that might hold some truth, I would also argue that problems are deeper and are more complex than one might see on the surface of things. As stated the new adopted political system, through its parliamentary representation, centralized the devolved power discussed above into the hands of few and people have lost their sense of power to shape or influence the decisions and policies of their elected president and government. Therefore, as we shall discuss briefly, the problems that the country currently faces stems from the lost of any form of representation and the lack of accountability of the government and those in authority in general.

Lack of representation and accountability:

Firstly, the multi-party system introduced the parliamentary, which would have produced a form of parliamentary representation. However, the perceived representative parliamentarians of all parties failed to hold the government to account. Moreover, there was no system in place to keep the balance of power in check. The house of elders and the house representatives existed only in name, with no real teeth or serious law making to examine properly the government policies and hold the government to account where it has transgressed the sprit of the constitution, i..e. delaying elections, banning of new political parties, imprisonment of innocent citizens, such as journalists and alike. We also find even where these organs attempt to rectify a misguided government decision or attempt to exert some leverage on the government that their call falls onto deaf ears, which is an indicative of the dysfunctional constitutional bodies. 

When we examine the underlying issues of this total failure of governance and law making we find some interesting characteristics emerging. There is abundantly observable evidence that the political motivation of those elected was not based on the interest of their people and the country, but self centeredness; grab what you can, drain the system and make a mockery of the constitutional rights of the people and hence, seem to be individuals who are completely void of integrity. Thus the lack of integrity of the politicians and leaders at all levels is a key contributory factor to the failure of the system. 

Another interesting, observation that we make is the political stagnation if not political regression. The lack of a sense of direction and the absence of progressive policies of any kind are the hallmarks of the current policy making. The lack of visionary policy process has played a part in halting the organic process that served this nation so well in its infancy years and lead towards peaceful coexistence and the progress that Somaliland prided it self. In fact what exists or remains at present is a significantly weakened and dysfunctional system, incapable of moving this nation forward. Consequently, we already see an indication of failure of the progressive political system and we witness the total confusion of the ordinary people and the return of the old clan feuds and territorial disputes, in some parts of the country, without any political endeavor of ever resolving them.

Way Forward:

A way forward, in fact I would say the only way forward, of overcoming the current political stalemate and averting the deepening political crisis is to uphold the constitution and the constitutional rights of the people and a realization that no one is above the law and that the politicians, at any rank, can be held accountable, their actions questioned and brought before a court of law. However, in order for this to happen, the judiciary system needs to be strengthened and the constitutional law making body needs to introduce legislative frameworks strengthening the judiciary system and the law enforcement agencies to protect the constitutional rights of each and every individual.

This is an over optimism when considered the current climate and the kind of leadership in place in all organs of the state. When examined the actions of law enforcement agencies, in particular the police and the judiciary system, we find their actions at odds with the constitution of the nation. Therefore, in order the above mentioned aspirations are achieved what is needed is a root and branch change, which can only come through an election and change of leadership and a new imputes to transform the governance institutions.

Conclusions:

In concluding this short article, the present climate, the feuding political parties and the uncertainties descending on Somaliland is a result of complex factors of which some of them we have discussed. The root cause of this appears to be the lack of true representation of people’s wishes and the dysfunctional constitutional bodies in regulating government activities or the political system for that matter. Moreover, Somaliland’s organic and traditional system has been significantly weakened, without replacement or proper mechanisms to regulate power.

Therefore, it is plausible to suggest, when considered the current dysfunctional constitutional system, that consequently, Somaliland could require external intervention if intellectuals and politicians fail to realize the gravity of the problem. To avert such scenario and the impending crisis requires a complete root and branch transformation of the system to enable the different organs of the state function according to their constitutional functions. As discussed such transformation can only become through transparent and fair election, and with a leadership in all organs of the state discharging its duties and committed to establish firmly the rule of law and implement the constitution. 

Recommendations:

· The constitutional law making body needs to intervene immediately and introduce urgent legislation to uphold the constitutional rights of the people of Somaliland and establish a framework in which fair and transparent election can take place.

· The country needs transparent and properly contested election therefore the government and the electoral commission should revise their decision to hold elections without voter registration and decisions of the constitutional law making body should be upheld.

· In the case of the election not taking place as planned or political parties fail to participate, the constitutional law making body should device contingency plans to put in place an interim care taker government, until such time that a properly contested elections can take place.

· There should be no consideration of power sharing government, in current climate power sharing will be counter productive and will not avert the impending crisis. Therefore, the government should be devolved constitutionally and the head of the state should be in line with the constitution.

· The law enforcement bodies, the judiciary, the police and the military should face their duties with due diligence in protecting the constitution and the rule of law and should uphold the decisions of the constitutional law making body to avert the impending political crisis.

· The constitutional law making body should prepare an urgent legislation to empower law enforcement bodies to bring individuals, suspected of maladministration, hindering the system or bringing the peace and the stability of the country into disrepute, before a court of law.

· Finally the people of Somaliland must exercise and demand their constitutional rights and must be cautious of the political folly that could result from the current political stalemate..

May Allah bless Somaliland and its people. Amin.

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