MOGADISHU (EDITORIAL) – A head of 2021 elections in Somalia, recently, there have been political movements and coalitions to defeat the current leaders of the government, a move spearheaded by leaders of the temporarily registered political parties in the country.
The recent gathering by the parties and the inauguration ceremony of the new opposition political alliance in Mogadishu which took place last Thursday (6th November) have drawn mixed public reactions based on agenda.
Six political parties who joined hands under the umbrella Forum for National Parties (FNP) have said that the alliance is committed in giving its priority on the protection and promotion of basic rights by putting more efforts on six major areas,
1. ‘the Unity of the nation and its people’.
2. The supremacy of the constitution and completion of the review process.
3. Safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.
4. Inclusive Politic, Equal representation,
5. Protecting, preserving and Strengthening the federal system.
6. 2020/2021 Elections.
It is commendable to get an alliance which unites political parties in order to dump old political system based on clan power-sharing.
It is also important to have one united political party rather than having different small parties with different agenda. Seems that other political parties in the country will follow suit.
Though it was hardly seen the formation of political alliance with different agenda rather than exerting pressure on the incumbent leaders and by having hidden personal motive of being hungry for power but time will tell if this coalition is different. The question is, will this alliance be able to select one competent flag carrier?
The points tabled by the alliance are very important but the implementation of these key points and procedures are more important than criticizing and being afraid that the government may extend its term beyond the mandated period and by accusing the leaders of the government of not being ready to hold election.
These six proposed points are literally key points which have been existing in the country’s political arena and had been tried to resolve since successive governments led by former presidents, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
For instance, completion of review process of the provisional constitution of Somalia has been ongoing for close to two decades and it has been clear that the successive governments failed to conclude the process. It is important to note that during 2013, the government led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud tabled plan of 2016 vision where the government pledged that it will complete the review of constitution process but six years under the line, it is still incomplete.
To the side of Safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, NFP claimed that it will protect the rights of the citizens. The coalition accused the current government of failing to observe this crucial element but such accusation seems to far from truth and there is no clear plan assuring the alliance will safeguard the fundamental rights if in case they come to power.
Safeguarding the rights of citizens depend on getting strong government which enables maintaining law and order across the country. To get such government takes long time as the process is still ongoing.
During the inauguration ceremony of NFP, the leaders of parties did not clearly say what the government failed in fulfilling of safeguarding the rights and what it succeeded.
Both leaders, Sheikh Sharif and Hassan Sheikh are aware that how ill was the protection of basic rights of citizens during their reign.
During the inauguration of NFP, the leaders of the alliance mentioned the status of Benadir region by saying that they will stand to give people Mogadishu equal representation and political rights which is good and important for people of the capital, but the question is, was there a process to clarify the status of Mogadishu which was left to complete by the current government so that the incumbent leaders could held accountable. Simply the answer will be ‘no’.
The reason why the status of Mogadishu is always remaining unresolved, is it is something which relies on public debate and needs constitutional amendment. It is difficult to iron out the problem of Mogadishu status, as it is the capital city of the country, therefore, it should first be agreed on whether it will remain capital or be rewarded both to be capital and serve as regional State.
However, how a forum whose agenda is not uniform, claim that it can resolve the problem of Mogadishu’s representation. Is there any plan by the forum to resolve the issue even after end mandate of the current government, hope it is no.
The current political opposition leaders were the ones leading the country when most of the regional states were being form. Furthermore, we need to note that both leaders, (Hassan Sheikh and Sharif Sheikh) who hail from Benadir region have not even taken any step to secure the status of Mogadishu.
2020 elections
This point which was discussed by the forum is a crucial as the poll is just a year and months away.
The opposition leaders have expressed concern over possibility of elections delay but it has been norm recent years that Somalia holds its parliamentary and presidential elections in every four years. The other issue which is not new to Somalia’s politics is that opposition individuals used shed crocodile tears while accusing those ruling the country of not being ready to hold elections, but those accusations used to end up in vein.
Both leaders Hassan Sheikh and Sharif Sheikh had previously traded accusations of poll delay and embezzlement and now it seems that they follow same route.
While talking about 2021- elections, the incumbent president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo pledged that the elections will take place on time. Hope this could a promise that end poll delay concerns.
Finally, NFP is just a new name meant to be race and it is notable that there is possibility of upcoming new of political parties as the election comes closer, with conclusion point, we will see how this forum will be different from the previous ones.
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