Pan-Somali Council For Peace and Democracy

Title:

Somalia : Beyond President Yusuf

Ever since the election of President Yusuf in Nairobi last month, a number of our Somali, educated top guns have spoken. Many of them have expressed concern about the suitability of Colonel Yusuf, the man, as the President of Somalia during this critical moment of Somalia 's expected rebirth. Among those who have intimated their fears were Mohamoud Said Togane, the Samater brothers (Ahmed and Abdi Ismail) and Ali Abdurhman Hersi, to name a few. This is not, however, to say that they were off beam to do so�I must hastily add�by any sense of the word. Not only do they have the right for self-expression, but also, as some of the most educated and knowledgeable among us in their fields, they have a responsibility to inform the rest of us�to even warn us against situations and national decisions they deem harmful and dangerous. But most importantly, it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we remain vigilant and vocal so that we can prevent the mistakes of the past repeating themselves in a newly reconstituted Somalia , if we must move on to a new era of peace and freedom. For them to take the torch in this regard has been very timely and courageous; and we should all thank them for this magnanimous task. Yes, indeed, President Yusuf may have a controversial past like the rest of us. But so do many of those politicians of his time and class, who have now elected him President. Therefore, he is one among many, in this regard. Some even consider him as one of the best among his contemporaries, for good or for bad. The fact that they elected him by an overwhelming majority may say something about that. And, may be�just may be�his overwhelming election may represent the best compromise that these former faction leaders and their cohorts (now our parliament) could ever reach for their own sake and for the sake of the nation at large. I mean: who knows? I think everybody here deserves a chance before we convict him or her. It is, indeed, some compromise, which they ought to have reached a long time ago, for everyone's sake. For, it was they� some of these politicians, who have now come to form the new parliament of Somalia�who kept us apart for the last two decades or so. These personalities�in their collective and in their individuals�happen to claim the rest of us and, therefore, the whole of Somalia, as theirs. They claim to represent us in all our social compartments, in our geographical divides and in our political orientations. And why not! They have fought over us for a good while on the grounds that they were fighting for us and in the name of Somalia. We had never denied them that claim. We could not! It was therefore only fair they should have reached a compromise, even if to elect colonel Yusuf to the helm. And that is what they did. They elected Abdullah Yusuf as the President�our President. For the rest of us the dividend is great if the decision brings about peace and a new government into place, as they seem to promise now. And towards this end, �hail the chief'; we must all say to President Abdullah Yusuf, now that his primary rivals, his former enemies, have chosen him. At least, those who elected him do not need to be reminded of the Colonel's past mistakes, if that is what one may wish to call it. Today, they would rather that we all call him �His Excellency, the President�, because that is how they now regard him and we have no choice but to accept him as such. But these men, and the minority of co-opted women among them, can also claim to represent us for one other good reason. Because they are Somalis and because they come from all parts of Somalia, no matter how tainted we may consider the past of some of them. Since they represent us, they elected President Yusuf, because they could. Now what? But I am intimating this proposition as such, not out of a desperate resignation to reality or out of impotence against the political power of the so-called �former faction and regional leaders', but perhaps out of pragmatism in the face of those dire conditions which characterize Somalia and its people today. The fact that there is no other end in sight for the prevailing anarchy and quagmire makes it imperative that we accept the outcomes of the Nairobi Conference. Alas! It took two complete years and uncountable international and local resources to bring about the product, as we know it today. A product it is, no matter how deficient it may be considered. It also took the ruins of the product of the costly, preceding Arta Conference, sponsored and single-handedly financed by tiny, winy sister Djibouti to build upon. So it took more than the two years of the Conference to get here! But, make no mistake; the challenge for making a lasting solution out of the Nairobi Conference's outcome is not specific to the parliament, to the President or to the cabinet. We, all of us, face the challenge. Together we broke it; together we must make it. We do not have the luxury of self-recriminations or cross and counter-accusations. The priority is clear, if we must exist. We must look to the future with hope and reconciliation for recovery, reconstruction and development. The task lying ahead of us is colossal if collective. We are facing, I believe, three basic elements that will remain a constraint in our transition to a situation of rebirth and a brighter future. The three are engrained in our political history and the collective psyche that feeds into it and from it. Therefore, these three elements seem to put all of us on the same boat (leaders and the led alike). Considering the three issues makes a minuscule of the criticisms leveled against President Yusuf, the parliament and the process that brought them about. The first is our own, collective, political psyche and culture, which has prevailed throughout the post-independence period. We all share that political culture, which breeds despotism, warlordism, political demagoguery, opportunism, nepotism, corruption and a divisive clan consciousness. How do we go about tackling that aspect of our existence is one task for all of us to face together and specially for the educated among us to lead in this effort. How do we change our political motto, ethos, etiquette, behavior and practice? The second is the past political structure which, not surprisingly, tends to repeat itself in the new arrangement�in the sense that the edifice is top-down and centralized, clan-based and produced out of a cursory international conference, held in a foreign capital. However, accepting the Nairobi product as the irreducible minimum for jump-starting the government and for restoring the lost sense of nationhood and statehood in Somalia is a prerogative of the circumstances. It is not a choice. The question remains how can we devolve the arrangement to bring all the parts of Somalia into its folds, perhaps by ensuring that the proposed federal mechanism begins to work as early as possible? The third is that our politicians of old have been the agents of that past political culture and structures. They could not, however, be solely blamed for the past because they have so far catered to our collective expectations within the context of that old political culture and in response to the inherent reward systems facilitated within it. Hence, I strongly believe that we could not produce a new breed of politicians over night. That being so, if you agree with me, the challenge for them (the politicians, including President Yusuf) is to brace themselves for a change in their political behaviors and profiles to meet the leadership needs in the march towards a new, democratic and peaceful future for Somalia. At a minimum, they have to create and adhere to mechanisms and instruments that can protect the system and its citizens from the excesses of each and all of them, including President Yusuf, if that is what it takes. This is not too much to ask of them since they have taken the constitutional responsibility to lead towards the greener pastures. The challenge for those educated among us is even greater. It is to provide counsel and advice when required, criticize constructively when necessary but provide support to the embryonic arrangement for government and maintain loyalty and respect for the constitution in the search for an effective system of government in Somalia. It is about maintaining a reasonable level of constructive criticism to ward off the problems of the past from repeating themselves without succumbing to apathy and indifference in the face of abusive political behavior and practice, when that happens to be the case. Maintaining that balance is an awesome task. In the meantime, the President, the Parliament and the future cabinet have their tasks cut out for them in the near future. After all they have only so much time and resources to fulfill a mandate, which expects them to prepare the country for elections in four years. Lord! What a challenge! There is hardly the time to relax for these organs of government. And yet they must make the system work, first, by creating it from nothing and in good time for these elections. In due course, they must create the necessary institutions of government at all levels for peace, democracy, and development to touch all under the rule of law, so that all can enjoy the dividends of peace and the benefits of an economic common-wealth, sooner than later. At this early juncture, a number of positive, timely actions already go to President Yusuf's credit�by way of speeding things up. Having appointed a Prime Minister, who is educated, and with a clean political record, as has been confirmed by his easy confirmation by the parliament, is something to admire. The President's courtesy visits to many neighboring countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Yemen and Saudi Arabia has been an excellent kick-off for good neighborly relations. In this regard, I hope he will also have the opportunity to visit Egypt, Eritrea and Djibouti. This will not only help to burry the hatchet with his adversaries of a different era (which, I am sure, he has left behind as of the moment of his election), but it will signal the political independence of the new government under his leadership. It will also pave the way for new and better relations of the new Somalia with its neighboring countries�relations based on balance between the interests of these countries in their relations with Somalia. In addition, the exploration of early possibilities to move the government seat into the country while Mogadishu gets ready for its historic place in the scheme of things is a positive strategy. There have been some eye borrows raised over the fact the President embarked on talks with the international community on the question of foreign troops, especially at a time, it was contended, well before the cabinet was formed and without consulting the parliament, it was added. The concern may be legitimate given the past of Somalia and the tendency of our leaders hitherto to take matters into theirs hands without adequate consultations with the relevant organs of government. But then, we should start wising up to know that a leader has to have the initiative, first, to present his proposals, later, to those with critical roles to play�in this case the cabinet and the parliament�when the time is ripe. In the meantime, it has not been a bad idea for the President to explore the possibility with the international community, who must eventually finance it, as an option. And an option it is, which I hope will never be needed. I am sure the Parliament will have the occasion to debate the issue, and the new cabinet will have a good share of the action in this regard, if it materializes as an option. On the eve of the imminent appointment of the members of the cabinet, I wish to conclude this paper with a point or two to advance my two cents worth of some concerns I have about our Somali tradition regarding the size of government. Over the years, large government has become the hallmark of the Somali political structures. The excuse for large government is that we do it to satisfy the bid for power by all clans and to give a sense of belonging to all. But �power-sharing� should stop somewhere once we have created legislative representation for all the clans as is enshrined in the 4.5-formula. Power is also shared between the clans in the sense that the so-called major government posts (i .e the President, the Speaker of the house, and the Prime Minister, and their deputies) are distributed on the basis of major clan denominations. Power sharing exercises beyond that become ridiculous. Indeed, a large ministerial council sometimes erodes into the functions and duties of the legislative council, rendering the parliament ineffective by duplicating representation, if not by duplicity which becomes a fair game once the check-and-balance mechanism has been weakened. It also encourages dictatorial tendency by the executive branch as a result of reduced accountability. Rather than by additional power sharing, a good government can give a greater sense of belonging to all by designing and creating structures and programs which encourage greater public participation and ensure effective public accountability. On the contrary, a large ministerial council is wastefully inefficient and ineffective. I would humbly suggest a smaller, leaner cabinet, which is technocratic in nature and appointed on the basis of the technical capability of the individual ministers, rather than on the basis of a clan-based, political, power-sharing arrangement. 18-25 members are ideal, in my opinion, for a country the size and population of Somalia, at a maximum. As the parliament debates the issue of whether to import the cabinet from without or appoint from with in within the parliament, I hope they will also consider this issue in tandem with the Prime Minister and the President, who are definitely contemplating the issue.

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Added on:

11/30/2004

Author/Source:

Abdalla A. Hirad

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Posted by:

Abdullahi

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