By Mohamed Jibrell
Background
The Puntland grand consultation conference was initiated by the President of Puntland his Excellency Abdilweli Gaas, organized by civil society and facilitated by Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC). This conference is the first to take place in Puntland since the consultation convention that took place in 1998 that resulted in the formation of Puntland State. It consists of the following four phases:
Phase I that took place in Galkayo and participated by representatives from civil society;
Phase II – that will take place in Gardo and will bring together members of the traditional leadership (Isimo);
Phase III – that will take place in Garowe and will aggregate representatives from Puntland Diaspora; and Validation Conference – that will take place in Garowe and bring together selected representatives from all groups.
The other three phases have yet to occur, however, Phase I of the Consultation Conference that took place in Galkayo from 25th to 29th of August 2015 was a good beginning. The conference participants included 202 delegates chosen from all the diverse communities of Puntland and 28 honorary guests. Puntland Grand consultation conference was to take stock of Puntland recovery and achievement with three themes that reflect on Puntland development: Lessons from 17 years of Sustained State Building; Conflict Management; and transition to Democratization.
Situational analysis
This article focuses on one of the conference themes – Transition to democratization. The participants of the Conference were regaled with presentations on the likelihood of establishing a multiparty democratic system in Puntland. It stressed that development of democracy in Puntland which will need the support of stakeholders primarily the civil society that is likely to coordinate elections, mass media, political parties, interest groups and social movements that can ably address large problems in the public interest. The Grand consultation conference prime objective is to contribute to Puntland’s development process, through active participation of Puntland civil society, Traditional leaders and Diaspora stake holders, which can make considerable contributions. This conference was of significant importance for taking stock of Puntland’s past development in order to contribute to crafting of an appropriate future democratic political vision.
The forum on Puntland democratization process brought together 230 civil society delegates representing all the diverse communities of Puntland. The invited delegates included educators, entrepreneurs, researchers, Local and International NGOs, Youth, women organizations and Mayors. Their individual attitudes and value orientations embraced a change of political culture and a tendency to support functioning of democratic institutions in Puntland.
In response to the presentations, a majority of participants were of the opinion that the Puntland populace that they represent are convinced that the current system of governance, the claim to clan exceptionalism that propels the current politics and the distribution of resources is no longer workable or defensible. They expressed vehemently that puntlanders are longing for democracy where citizens are empowered to directly select their representatives and that in the final analysis democracy in lieu of the clan system of governance will remain resilient.
Participants expressed opinions at the conference revealed that even the die-hard adherents to clan hegemony were losing faith in the clan system which gives Puntland government and civil society proponents of democracy the confidence to proceed with the democratic process. The people are coming to the realization that the clan system that is mired in Puntland history and traditions is not sustainable as a vehicle of governance. This is closely linked with prevailing political culture theories of mass tendencies in individual-level attitudes and value orientations towards democratization. Awareness of this linkage has already been made explicit in classic Greek times by Aristotle and during the Enlightenment by Charles de Montesquieu [1748]), both of whom argued that that attainment of democracy is reflected in the attitudes and disposition towards democratic values that prevail among a people.
Challenges
However, with this realization comes a sobering after thought, for in establishing democracy there will be considerable challenges. When democracy flourished in Somalia, during 1960-69, Somalia was hailed as the leading democratic country in Africa. In 1964 during the battle between Somalia and Ethiopia the New York time magazine highlighted Prime Minister Abdurshid Sharmarke having a ballot box in one hand and a gun in the other stressing Somalia’s commitment to voting and democratic ideals even during an outbreak of war. The magazine quoted his famous speech “We join the elections and are voting with our right hand, and with our left hand we took the rifle to defend the country —“. Unfortunately, Somalia’s attempt in the period between 1960 and 1969 of unbridled democracy was reversed with the callous assassination of President Abdurashid Sharmarke and a Military coup that ensued. This unanticipated debacle coupled with the succession of a military coup, that led to a civil war and successive incompetent transitional governments has cast doubt on the success of democracy in Somalia.
The conference participants cognizant of the complications that emerged from Puntland 2012 Farole administration abortive democratization attempt, which resulted from the controversy of inadequate time frame and the rushed establishment of political associations and parties, warned against repeat of such occurrences in future democratization efforts. The conference reiterated the need for establishing the foundations of democratization at least three years in advance which will make it possible to foster a sustained civic and voter education which goes beyond the confines of the major cities to reach the majority pastoral population and other remote coastal and mountain communities of Punt land.
A key point of the conference has been the agreement on the importance to strengthen democratic parties and party systems. This is absolutely crucial for an effective strategy of Democracy Building. The political foundation of democracy in Puntland should work together with Somali culture, Islamic principals and the best practices of democratic international universal values. Another crucial factor for Puntland is to boost the marginalized (dadka la hayb sooco) and women in political participation and promote their political and economic empowerment. The conferences prime objective was to contribute to Puntland’s development process, through active participation of civil society.
Recommendations
The key outcomes and recommendations of the democratization process are summarized as follows:
Democracy is the means whereby social services are provided fairly, equally; and with transparency and accountability; attained by the freewill of the people through electing their leaders in line with their religion, constitutional and noble traditions. The immediate appointment of an electoral commission that undertakes the following tasks is important: a) Finalization of Electoral Laws b) Public awareness in regards to elections c) Voter Registration. Institution of Constitutional Court and formation of a committee to evaluate the increase and lack of demarcation of districts.
Conclusion
For Democracy to be functional in Puntland it has to be understood that democracy does not serve as an automatic remedy for ailments as quinine works to remedy malaria. Democracy should become an everyday instrument for Puntland people to engage each other and their leaders. It provides opportunity that citizens must take advantage of in order to achieve the desired effect. There is power in people coming together and organizing around their felt collective issues. Initiatives such as public debates can work wonders in assessing a leader’s competence in articulation of issues, vision and clear policies. Open discussion, debate, criticism and dissent are essential to generating informed and reflected choices. Once citizens get it right with politics and work on democracy, there is no doubt that Puntland shall experience the fruit of instituting democracy and development. Of course to get a transparent and responsive government, citizens’ consciousness must be backed up by attendant reforms in institutions such as judiciary, parliament, police and electoral system. It is time Puntland puts its democracy train on the rail. More important, for democracy to work as it should, Puntland citizens must take on a new attitude, become more responsible, be informed and get involved in public affairs.
Mohamed Jibrell
Garowe, Somalia
Email:[email protected]
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