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| Last Updated: Apr 3, 2012 - 2:47:55 AM |
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Somalia: Tightening Noose on the Jungle Lawmakers [Opinion]
28 Dec 28, 2011 - 11:08:21 PM
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There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself -
Raymond Chandler (1888 - 1959) U.S. novelist.
The noose is tightening on the Somali jungle lawmakers. The boisterous pseudo assembly, Somalis were tricked to call them ‘a parliament’, is now unraveling and working into its own demise. Their own trap is catching on them.
It was not an elected parliament in the first place. It was the product of many foreign‐sponsored so‐called reconciliation meetings, consisting mainly of warlords imposed on the dilapidated Somali society. Their meetings had never been peaceful unless being baited by their equally crafty mentor, the House Speaker. It has had the history of being a straightjacket that hampered any headway to the Somali political solution. Common bickering and affrays, lack of insight of their mandate, vote‐peddling has been their hallmarks.
On December 15, 2011, the flouted MPs passed a motion to oust their Chief, Sherif Hassan Sheikh Adan, in a chaotic session that caused many bruises, bloody noses and spit teeth while he was on a tour to Italy. Perhaps this had the nod from his adversary, the President Sharif Ahmed Sheikh Ahmed. Both of them are trying their best to outlast the other and survive the political storm in August, next year, when the term of all transitional federal institutions comes to an end.
This, however, boomerang and hardened the resolve of the international community to disband them. The heads of Missions of the European Union in Nairobi issued a statement voicing their concerns as this step violates both the spirit and letter of the Kampala Accord and the implementation of the Roadmap.
Somalia had not only missed many opportunities to put its house in order because of their corruption, maladroitness and lack of ingenuity, but had slumped deeper into further crises that still risk its own existence. The people they claim to represent believe that the loathsome lot is a conglomerate of Al‐Shabab sympathizers, agents of different foreign stakeholders and seat‐warming vagabonds waiting for a political upheaval that earns them the daily bread.
Having realized their poor quality and lack of integrity and competence, the international community led by the countries whose peacekeeping troops are protecting the TFIs in Mogadishu from the onslaught of Al‐Shabab extremists, had ostracized and disenfranchised them in latest Kampala Accord, forcing them to rescind their constitutional powers till time came to see their back in August 2012. They fell into the trap of approving the accord. The government got a free hand to implement the adopted road map.
And now time for the clearing of the mess and revamp the most important institution of Somalia has dawned. The international community with all their respective hidden agendas, which might be never serving Somalia, the war‐weary Somali public and the nostalgic Diaspora whose sojourn in foreign countries turned gloomy and the displaced people in refugee camps in the neighboring countries are all in one voice “get rid of the devilish warlords, disguising as parliamentarians.
Let the villainous saber‐rattling charlatans who brought about the drastic Somali situation be swept under the carpet once and for all (if not sent to Guantanamo Bay) and be replaced by more capable Assembly chosen on the basis of the solid criteria of education, judiciousness, patriotism and nonpartisan. If the Somali High Consultative Meeting scheduled to be held in Garowe, Puntland, from 21st to 23rd of December, puts particular emphasis on the selection process of new House of the Parliament which includes the following characteristics, it will turn a leaf in Somalia’s book of history that will lead to genuine Somali reconciliation.
a. Be educated, patriotic and worldly wise that has the capability to retrieve Somalia from the chasm it finds itself in.
b. Be endorsed by the regional community leaders. Since eligible political parties that could contest in a free election and elect their officials to run parliamentary seat are a way too far, traditional ways need to be temporarily employed. The first set‐up needs to be formed, banking on the role of the community leaders. Prior to that, society must be disarmed. Somali is awash with arms. The many years of strife made a prerogative for any individual to keep arms at least for self‐defense. As long as these arms are in the hands of people, the warlords can kick up clan sentiments that serve their purpose.
c. Be no more than 75 members equally divided between the pre‐civil war regions numbering 18. The current membership of the House of Parliament stands at 550 mark and this number has not only been a strain on the economy of a poor country trying to re‐emerge from the ashes of destruction but has been the source of constant infighting and confrontation. One thing that contributed to their indecision, bickering, common fist‐fights that crippled any decision‐making capacity is due to their superfluous numbers and their lack of capacity.
d. Be clean of past criminal records and war‐mongering practices or a nasty behavior of roguery, violence and sectarian mentality that previous group was famous for. Their roguery and misdemeanor had gone unpunished and this encouraged many misdemeanants to carry the law in their own hands. Unfortunately, it has been a norm that criminal and warlords dominated the Somali political atmosphere.
e. Have good social standing that respects the culture of the Somali people. One of the things that extremists cash in on is the fact that some alien cultures are neutralizing the homogeneity of the
Somali people is creeping in and enforced by concerted action of faith organizations, the NGOs and Somali agents paid for their service of depleting the Somali society.
f. Be given mandate for five years after which the next parliament will be democratically elected through their respective constituencies in a party system.
Political Parties and Federalism
Prior to the military takeover in 1969, Somalia had had some sort of clan democracy with multiple clan‐based parties. It had been chaotic as polling was marred by clan‐based strife, vote‐rigging and subjugation of the less numerous clans. The subsequent strife and grievances had resulted in the assassination of the then president, Abdirishid Ali Sharmarke in 1969, and the ruckus had prompted the coup that brought a dictatorial regime to the power. The iron‐fisted rule of that totalitarian regime had precipitated into the collapse of the system and subsequent civil war.
If Somalia has to learn from experience, that system was a failure. The number of political parties should be curtailed. No more than three parties should be enacted with clear agenda devoid of any clan‐related characterization. This limitation will blunt clannish sentiments and will enforce clans to cooperate and device their own power‐sharing mechanism. This might be preceded by the registration of UN‐sponsored census‐taking, allocating constituencies to the respective states on the basis of their respective populace. This would have eroded the suspicion, the grievances, and the unfair ambitions of the war‐mongers.
If international stakeholders pursuing their vested interest in the carcass of a collapsed state are blinded by their agendas and self‐interest, the set of ills that emanates from this part of the world will be far‐reaching and uncontrollable. Piracy and Al‐shababists, freelance gunmen surviving on the barrels of the gun, humanitarian disasters will be the tip of the iceberg and affect globally.
To sum up, the international community needs to give a boost to the Roadmap adopted and outcome implemented.
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by: Abdirahman O Warsame
Email: abdirahmanow@yahoo.com
December 18, 2011
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