| Front Page |
By: Ahmed M.I. Egal
Our elder stateman, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud “Silanyo”, has done it again. He has committed a major gaffe and firmly placed his foot in his mouth yet again. On 2nd February Somaliland.org and Qarannews.com reported a press conference Mr. Silanyo gave at his residence in Hargeisa during which he talked extensively about his viewpoint regarding the agreement recently reached by the participants at the Somali Reconciliation Conference in Nairobi. In a nutshell, Mr. Silanyo opined that this new agreement to form a parliament of 275 members was likely to result in the formation of an interim government for Somalia, which is supported by the international community. He goes on to state that the proposed parliament appears to include representatives from Somaliland and that these two facts change the situation and therefore require that Somaliland reconsider its original position with respect to Somalia. He suggests that wide ranging consultations involving the government, opposition parties, traditional elders, both houses of parliament and “everyone else” be held to reconsider Somaliland’s policy in the light of this new development, i.e. the agreement reached by the participants of the Reconciliation Conference.
While Mr. Silanyo purposely obscured the true intent of his proposal (which is nothing less than the repudiation of our nationhood) by paying lip service to Somaliland’s restoration of its sovereignty in 1991, it is possible to fathom this intent from a logical analysis of his viewpoint. Firstly, as reported by the international news organizations, the new government proposed for Somalia under this agreement is for the ex-Italian colony and it explicitly excludes Somaliland (refer to this page on the CNN website http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/01/29/somalia.talks.ap/index.html for a clear exposition of this). Secondly, what is Somaliland’s policy that needs to be reconsidered? This is simply the will of the people of Somaliland to recover their sovereignty, which was evidenced by the 97% yes vote for the constitution. This fact is not up for discussion with any future government of Somalia, since it underlies the very existence of the Republic of Somaliland (JSL). All other matters to be discussed with any future government of Somalia are essentially technical ones, e.g. apportionment between the two countries of the assets and liabilities of the collapsed Republic of Somalia inside and outside the erstwhile country; restitution and/or compensation of the citizens of the two countries for their personal properties in the others’ territory; regulations covering trade and commerce between the two countries; and, most importantly, calling to account the perpetrators of crimes against humanity. These issues need to be tackled by technical committees drawn from the governments of each country under the aegis of the UN and the AU.
So what is Mr. Silanyo proposing that these wide ranging consultations be held about? Clearly, the technical issues regarding the apportionment of the assets and liabilities of the erstwhile republic, or the restitution and/or compensation for private property belonging to the nationals of each government in the territory of the other, do not lend themselves to such consultations. The only issue that such consultations can conceivably address is the that of the independence of Somaliland, yet this issue cannot be on the agenda for discussion since the only people who can determine it, the people of Somaliland, have already spoken – and spoken clearly and forcefully. The more one considers Mr. Silanyo’s statements, the more one cannot avoid drawing the inevitable conclusion that what he is actually proposing is the reconsideration by the people of Somaliland of their historic decision to take back their sovereignty that they had naively surrendered in 1960 in the name of a mistaken nationalism that was used to hoodwink them. Of course, Mr. Siilanyo cannot come out openly and propose such a step, since to do so would destroy his political career, not to mention place him in personal jeopardy on the streets of Hargeisa. So instead, he signals his intent tortuously in code designed to mislead the public, while understood by the cognoscenti in Nairobi and elsewhere.
The truth of the matter is that the prospect of a functional government in Somalia supported by the international community has caused a panic among those in Somaliland whose political sights were always set on Mogadishu and not Hargeisa. These people have never believed in the sovereignty of JSL and have only paid it lip service on pain of ostracism and being consigned to the political wilderness. They have been biding their time while the warlords in Somalia fought over the carcass of that miserable country. Now that the dark days of anarchy appear to be coming to an end (and this is by no means certain), they find themselves in the impossible position of being frozen out of the new government (which will enjoy international support) by the wishes of their own people to maintain the sovereignty they have recovered through blood, sweat and tears. At the same time, their counterparts in Somalia are dangling very tempting offers of high office, if they can only get their people to recant their declaration of independence and come back into the fold of the old, failed union.
It is important that we recognize and expose the gambits of these people to sabotage the existence, stability and peace of Somaliland by pretending that the agreement in Nairobi changes anything at all with respect to Somaliland and its position with respect to Somalia. The agreement of the warlords to create a government in Mogadishu is to be welcomed if it succeeds in bringing the misery of the ordinary people of Somalia to an end and the whole world, not just Somaliland, welcomes it for this reason. However, the creation of a government in Mogadishu does not change one iota of Somaliland’s decision to recover its sovereignty and make its way in the world as an independent country – this is the will of its people and no amount of political subterfuge or sleight of hand can change it. The time when Somaliland’s independence was a matter to be discussed with a government in Mogadishu has long passed, the overwhelming yes vote for the constitution killed that notion and the municipal, Presidential and soon to be held parliamentary elections put the nails in its coffin. Indeed, any government created in Mogadishu will have its work cut out to bring Somalia during the five years it is slated to hold office to the position Somaliland is at now with respect to peace, stability and democratic governance.
The greatest irony is that during the same week that the British Parliamentary delegation that recently visited Somaliland was arguing so eloquently and effectively for their government to recognize our country; during the same week that our own remarkable Foreign Minister was making diplomats and parliamentarians in Paris weep in sympathy and solidarity as she put Somaliland’s case for recognition and justice before them; our own elder statesman, the man many look to be a leader-in-waiting, was questioning the very existence of our country, albeit obliquely and in code. I can only say to him shame on you Mr. Silanyo, we expected more, much more from you. It is said that in a democracy, the electorate gets the leadership it deserves, since the decision of who leads them is in their hands. Maybe, that is why Mr. Silanyo is not President of Somaliland.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives