UDUB’s Illegal Actions Are Endangering The ‎Country

EDITORIAL

There are two possible ways to analyze what happened at the parliament’s inaugural session: (a) from a legal perspective and (b) from a political perspective.

First, the legal perspective: The one action that will probably have the greatest consequence, other than Mr. Dhaadeere’s declaration that the session was closed, was the fact that the opposition parliamentarians consulted a lawyer before deciding what to do. Granted, that lawyers can give the wrong advice, it turns out that in this case the advice that the parliamentarians got was legally sound. We are saying this based on confirmation from an independent lawyer who is thoroughly familiar with Somaliland ’s constitution. The two relevant questions are whether Mr. Dhaadhere had the right to close the meeting and whether the opposition had the right to continue the meeting. The answer to the first question is in article 45 (4) which says that postponement can only take place if approved by a majority of the present members. The answer to the second question is that opposition parliamentarians were within their right to continue the meeting since they had a quorum.

Second, from a political perspective, what happened was a severe blow to the hopes of Somalilanders who were expecting a solemn and happy occasion, not chaos and conflict.

A few villains stand out in this sordid drama: Mr. Dhaadhere who started these incendiary chain of events, the secretary of the Guurti Mr Abdillahi Habane who further inflamed it, the Minister of Information Abdillahi Dualle who said on BBC that there was a coup in Somaliland and who has been promoting an Mbagathi-type of political culture by dubbing Mr. Dhaadhere the “temporary chairman of parliament” in government media, the person who was behind the decision to send the police to parliament (some say the commander of the police acted on his own, others say the minister of interior was the one who gave the order, while still others point to the president himself), UDUB parliamentarians who walked out because they knew they would lose if voting took place, and of course President Rayale who approved such a strategy beforehand (there is strong indication that UDUB’s strategy was decided upon before they came to the meeting, from which it is only reasonable to conclude that President Rayale must have approved it, which means that President Rayale took part in a conspiracy to subvert the business of Somaliland’s parliament and potentially create chaos in the country.

Given the above-mentioned legal and political realities, UDUB has no viable options

but to accept the newly elected leaders of parliament. Any other attempt to play for time and elongate the duration of the parliamentary crisis would mean that UDUB is deliberately subverting a vital institution (parliament) for selfish political gains, and would require that legal proceedings should be started against their leadership beginning with the President and vice-President.

Since the opposition was smart enough and sensible enough to consult a lawyer before voting, they must now show the same respect for the decisions of Somaliland ’s courts, and should not meet until either the Supreme Court has decided on the legality of their parliamentary leadership, or an understanding has been reached with UDUB. Hopefully, it won’t take too long for one of these to occur. Mr. Cirro’s claim that the supreme court has no mandate to rule on the legality of his parliamentary leadership is just that: a baseless claim. The high court has the final word. Mr. Cirro is now in the spotlight and must show leadership, not baseless rhetoric. Neither UDUB nor the opposition is above the law.

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