Somalia stakeholders must urgently address trust deficits

EDITORIAL | There were positive signs this week in Somalia, so pleasing it showed key political stakeholders were keen on opening up their dead communication channels for the good of the country.

Then there were bad signs too, bad enough to show the old perennial problems in Somalia have yet to be tackled.

When Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo spoke with presidents of the federal member states, virtually, for the first time in more than a year; that was good. When the meeting tentatively agreed to have a future face-to-face meeting and resolve the pending issues, it showed channels were opening further.

In fact, Wednesday’s formal invitation by Villa Somalia to the federal state presidents for a meeting on July 5-8 signaled further intent that communication channels had reopened. We were pleased to learn that the agenda of the upcoming meeting would be on national security, constitutional review, elections, terrorism as well as issues of the economy.

Frankly speaking, Somalia’s narrative is woven around those key issues and any sensible leaders will always have to look at them. In fact, previous meetings had failed largely because the agenda could not be agreed on.

On that point, a genuine attempt to organize a forum for stakeholders to talk through crises is welcome. Garowe Online, however, advises that positive steps in Somalia can only be attained through utmost good faith. Villa Somalia wasn’t always amenable to meetings with federal presidents. Some of those leaders like Ahmed Madobe of Jubaland were not even recognized as such, until ten days ago.

Given that environment, there have been critics who argue Villa Somalia’s latest about-turn on meetings with these leaders may be sinister; that either pressure from outside is behind it or it has reached a point where his own political survival depends on coalescing with these leaders.

Of course, politics is about permanent interests, not friends or enemies. But we call on all political stakeholders in Somalia to stay true to what will aid the common Somali person. The agenda already picked by Villa Somalia reflects problems that most urgently need solutions. Somalia can never stand back to its feet under a regime of al-Shabaab.

A permanent constitution is needed to guide the relationship between federal states and the federal government as well as resource sharing. The most important of it all is that elections are just three months away. These leaders, FGS and FMSs, jointly hold an influential position that could help the country know how the upcoming polls will be conducted, and even when they will be conducted.

But there was the bad too, this week. As Villa Somalia’s bureaucrats drafted the agenda and invitations, details emerged that the proposed regulations debated in the Lower House had been altered before the drafts were tabled. Upper House Speaker sensationally claimed some 27 articles in the draft electoral regulations had been changed to suit a certain cause.

No names were peddled. But there are two problems with this allegation. First is that if true the articles were changed, it legitimizes the 17-member ad-hoc committee of parliament which had been tasked with drafting the regulations before tabling on the Floor of the House.

Secondly, debating of these regulations had been the subject of the virtual meeting between the FMS and the FGS last Monday. Leaders apparently agreed to delay the debate until after their input is included, probably after their physical meeting.

That the debate was allowed in the Lower House risks breaking any confidence building. This is not to say Federal states should hold the progress of the country at ransom. But we observe that earlier versions of those electoral laws were fervently fought in Puntland and Jubaland, on grounds that there had been no input from those states.

Under a delicate situation like it is today, between the federal government and federal states, the existing trust deficits can break any motions towards the common ground on electoral law.

This is why we think the leadership of the Lower House must be chastised for working ahead of the group. We think that for any positive outcome to emerge from the upcoming meeting, no side should give any signals that indicate others are being taken for a ride.

While we call for dialogue and urge all invited participants to show up, we are cognizant of the fact that previously planned meetings have failed to kick off because parties simply didn’t see each other as serious.

GAROWE ONLINE