Somalia:Somali Government agenda is pulled into three different directions by its leaders.

By Mohamed A. Hussein

When Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected last year September 2012 by Somali parliament, it was thought that his government had the best chance of succeeding and uniting Somali people fragmented by civil war over 22 years.

After the nomination of the Prime Minister Saacid was approved by the parliament, president Hassan said that the top three leaders of the government namely the president himself, the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister committed to working together for the benefit of Somali people unlike any other previous interim government since the collapse of the center government in 1991.

However, after one year in the office, it became clear that the government agenda specially when it comes of forming regional administration where the constitution should be the guide is being pulled into three different directions by the president and his team Dem jaded, the speaker of the parliament and now the prime minister who finally decided to engage the politics after a rumor that the president and his team planning to replace him.

First, President and his team Dem jaded decided to centralize the power of the three branch of the government( legislative, executive and judiciary ) into president’s hand in order to centralize the government power into Mogadishu against the federal constitution Somali people agreed upon and in which the president is elected to uphold.

To that end, the president is accused, among others, of running the executive branch by making most of the day to day operation of the government by himself and his team, by bypassing the parliament and making deals with both locally and international entities without the approval of the parliament and by interpreting the constitution as it fit to his agenda without final decision by supreme court.

Case in point, the president who opposed originally the forming of Jubbaland state claiming that administration was not inclusive finally reached an agreement with the Jubbaland leaders in Addis Ababa, where he recognized the interim administration of Jubba, after he was pressured by international community to show a sign of reconciliation and compromise before he attend Somali conference (New deal) being held in Brussels, Belgium.

Second, the speaker of the parliament realizing that the president is doing whatever pleased him in disregard of the constitution and without involvement of the parliament decided to seek support from his base in Baydhabo city where traditional elders in the area were holding reconciliation and consultative meeting in order to form regional administration in protest of the Addis Ababa agreement.

At end of that meeting, the elders agreed to form regional administration consist of 6 districts of which three were already recognized by the president’s team as an interim administration of Jubba. In press conference after the end of the meeting, the speaker of the parliament agreed with the elders and supported their plan knowing the president and his team just signed an agreement in which they recognized Jubba administration.

Third, while most of the Somali people surprised a lack of communication between the speaker of the parliament and the president, they were also astound to find out the prime minister’s involvement of the politics all of sudden when he called upon reconciliation meeting of Jubbaland stakeholders to be held in Mogadishu again contrary to the Addis Abba agreement which calls the first meeting to be held in Mogadishu which was done and the second meeting to be held in Kismayu which is still pending..

Most of the political analysts think that the prime minister who was not involved in politics and his duties were being exercised by the president since he was elected as prime minister all of sudden realized that he also need to seek support from his base of Gedo district and as result insisted the involvement of all stake holders including Barre Hiirale in the reconciliation meeting he called upon to be held in Mogadishu.

Now after one year of the current administration, we have a situation where Jubbaland administration is recognized by the president, unrecognized by the speaker of the parliament and being sabotaged by the prime minister, each one trying to satisfy either international community, in the case of the president in order to gain financial or his base from home town, in the case of both the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister.

The only way to come out of this confusion is to go back to the constitution agreed by Somali people and to allow parliamentarian to debate those confusing articles in order to clarify. In the constitution, there is clear distinction of the task of the president, prime minister and the speaker of the parliament and the president, as leader of the government should respect and follow the constitution and allow the prime minister and speaker of the parliament to do their job.

Only then, there may be a hope that Somali people will come out of this political mess created by the president whom most Somali people thought he had the best chance of uniting Somali people at last. Somali people cannot afford another three years of this kind of administration where each one of the top three leaders does what pleases him while disregarding constitution.

Signed By

Mohamed A. Hussein

Horn of Africa political Analyst.

Mohabdhus@aol.com