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Recently, the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) unilaterally decided to extend its five-year mandate, which expires August 2011 for additional three years. Such wrongheaded act is not only shocking but also condemnable. Their justification for this act was that of “averting political vacuum” at the end their current term.
Somalis wonder what vacuum the TF parliament has in mind since it’s an open secret that the TFG’s nominal authority is “practically” confined to a few blocks in Mogadishu, which are protected by the African Union Force (AMISOM). Without AMISOM, the armed opposition, mainly Al shabaab would easily overrun that enclave. This being the situation, and bogus legalism notwithstanding, exactly what political vacuum is the TF parliament worried about developing? The Somali people are aware of how much the TFP costs. Let those parliamentarians provide a balance sheet detailing the costs and benefits of their existence for the Somali people. It appears that their most substantive contributions have been senseless bickering and unproductive and monotonous monologues. Therefore, the extension of their term office for another three years is totally unjustifiable and illogical. Their self-serving motive will ill-serve our desperate people. What matters to them is to swindle the millions of dollars, which the international donors have been pumping into the Transitional Federal institutions’ coffers since its creation in 2004. That aid has produced no tangible and substantive outputs, which serve the population. It is clear to all keen observers that the general situation in Somalia is not better off today than it was before the creation of the current TFG institutions in October-November 2004? From my perspective, the overall situation in the country has markedly deteriorated. First, in late 2005 and early2006, the Bush administration had conspired with the Mogadishu’s hated warlords to launch a surprise attack against religious groups in the city. The U.S. and its allies considered the latter as a threat to their national security and the peace and stability in the region. The end result of such an ill-conceived blitz-kriek engineered by the CIA was a total debacle. Contrary to the CIA’s assessment, the attack turned out to be seen by the local population as an attack against their religion: - Islam – and the warlords and their supporters as sheer hirelings. So, the masses came in throngs and with strong determination to fight and die, if necessary, in the defense of their religion, quickly overwhelmed the aggressors. Second, within a few days, total peace reigned supreme in and around Mogadishu, something that had eluded the population for more than 16 years (1991-2006)! Within a few weeks time, the city’s Sea and Airports were reopened which appeared miraculous to the population and surreal to the international community who were so steeped in pessimism about Somalia. The religious groups, which were a patchwork of different denominations, elected from among themselves leaders with the task of coordinating groups’ future policies and programs. They named it Union of Islamic Courts (UICs). Initially, the Courts seemed to be following a relatively moderate line of policy, which paved the way for expanding its influence and control to several important parts of the country, including Jowhar, Hiiraan, Bur-Hacaba, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba regions. Instead of consolidating their political and administrative positions as well as concentrating on how best to lay the necessary groundwork for tackling the challenging tasks ahead, the Courts chose to change course by gradually but steadily showing signs of being intoxicated with their unexpected victory. They embarked on incoherent and thoughtless statements of threats and gun brandishing. It was because of such an imprudent line of rhetoric that they had to pay the consequence: their sudden fall. On December 2006, Ethiopia, at the behest of the W. Bush administration and the consent and support of the TFG leaders, including parliament, invaded Somalia and quickly defeated the Courts. The invaders relished their victory and attempted to impose maximum humiliation on Somalis. Against minimum sign of their being unwelcome or resisted, the invaders responded with utmost brutality and indiscriminate repression, thus wrecking havoc both in human lives and materiel. In the face of such terror, the population decided to put aside whatever differences they might have had and united their forces and undauntedly challenged Ethiopia’s illegal occupation. Thanks to the population’s heroic and patriotic resistance, the invading troops were compelled to withdraw after more than two years of wanton death, destruction and displacement of about one million of Mogadishu residents. Ethiopia’s invasion and its alliance with the Bush Administration was a God-given gift for Al-Qaeda, which had been striving for getting traction in the region. Consequently, Somalia has become Alqaeda’s fourth strategic sphere of influence and battleground - after Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Alqaeda is now a formidable force in Somalia to be reckoned with. Harakatu Ashabaab, which declared to be an Al-Qaeda affiliate, now controls most of south Somalia. All these sad events had occurred during the current TFG’s mandate. According to chapter 14 of the TFG’S CONSTITUTION (Transitory clause) the TFG was required, interalia:
There seems to be a glaring dearth of TFP accomplishment in all the areas enumerated above! What different record of accomplishment can the people of Somalia expect from extending the mandate for the TFP? The reader will decide! I dared to make this brief historical background, with a view to demonstrating that Somalia and its beleaguered people were better off before the creation of the current TFG institutions in 2004. Worse yet, the more time they remain on the saddle, the darker prospect one can expect. These are sobering facts and the evidence is daunting In all candor, do the foreign governments, especially U.S and EU, which have been squandering millions dollars of the taxpayer money to sustain this incompetent and self-serving entity, think that the TFG has so far accomplished anything remotely beneficial to the Somali people or to their own interests? It is doubtful that these actors are unlikely to entertain such a direct and factual question. More than likely, they will try to develop all imaginable rationales for justifying their miscalculations rather take appropriate and corrective actions. 1- Total revamping of the UNDP produced draft constitutions:To transform this document in a way that truly reflects the ultimate national interests of the country, a well screened and experienced the committee of jurists composed mostly of Somali lawyers, preferably constitutionalists, and a number of non-Somali legal experts should be formed, with full authority to review the existing draft and make any necessary changes/improvements, including but not limited to, proposal for more alternative (s) constitutional form to “only” federalism. Instead of imposing the federalism on the population, a priori, it’s absolutely necessary to offer them different choice(s) and adequately explain the pros and cons of each of the proposed constitutional structures. 2-Preparation and enactment of electoral law(s) and related regulations:When studying and enacting such electoral law(s), it’s pertinent to keep in mind the importance of having in place: (a) a carefully selected national committee responsible for overseeing the whole proceedings of the election process; (b) a carefully selected judicial body responsible for examining and passing legal judgments on complaints of irregularities in the conduct of the elections; (c) inviting international observers to come in with free and unimpeded movement to watch and scrutinize proceedings of the elections, as normally happens. In light of the foregoing and the brevity of time till August 2011, it might become necessary to consider extending current TFG’s mandate for ONE more year (not three years. In due course, and three months before August 31, 2012, TF parliament should be dissolved, and general political elections called. This manner is in keeping with any democratic parliamentary system. The TFG government may then remain in office as caretaker. Meanwhile, when the general election is announced, the transformed draft constitution, should with immediate effect supplant the current TFG constitution as the latter is too marooned in federalist political project. The newly formulated constitution should be submitted to the electorate as a popular referendum at the time of general elections. Such timing will have the advantage of avoiding duplicative costs and speed up political reform and consolidation. If the above and other necessary additional measures were faithfully and promptly implemented, there may at long last be a glimmer of hope at the end of the proverbial tunnel. This could lead to the restoration of a viable and durable peace and stability, and will renew a spirit of national reconciliation, social cohesion, and nation-building. Abdirazak Haji Hussen ____________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com
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