Somaliland

Should We Expect a Miracle Either From Kulmiye or UCID If The Election Goes Their Way?

June 29, 2010   ·   167928 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Fshould-we-expect-a-miracle-either-from-kulmiye-or-ucid-if-the-election-goes-their-way-16792Should+We+Expect+a+Miracle+Either+From+Kulmiye+or+UCID+If+The+Election+Goes+Their+Way%3F2010-06-30+01%3A30%3A49Mo+Guledhttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D16792

As strange as it might seem, my answer is a resounding YES! Trust me, I have not been smoking funny cigars and if you spare a minute or two I should be able to explain myself. I hope!

A miracle, by its very nature, is within the domain of the far-fetched affairs but the miracle, in this case, will be making changes that are not incremental and cosmetic but changes that are systemic and real. What we need first and foremost is a government that inspires, even a token, a society that has been robbed, corrupted and demoralized for decades by unjust, ineffectual, deceptive regimes. What we need is a government that respects the rule of law, a government that is accountable to the electorate, a government that is transparent, competent, inclusive, and equally important, a government that has a vision for this poor, unrecognized, underdeveloped, infant nation of ours. And lastly but not least, we expect a government with well thought out agendas and well defined public policies that are efficient, effective, practical and not just relevant to our unique needs but also to our limits and short comings as well.

Whether this miracle can be achieved at all or a diluted version of it, if any, can be materialized is certainly an open debate for another generation and not definitely mine. A good chunk of what I have said so far is already written one form or another in the manifestos of all three parties or already promised by their leaders; promises that even the most optimistic folks, not the cynical, do not take too seriously. The first indication, however, to see whether either UCID or Kulmiye, if elected, is different than UDUB or merit the support of the people will depend on whether or not the winner initially takes and acts upon at least some of the following steps in order to solve some of the most pressing issues that we currently face as a notion. Perhaps such steps, I hope, might lead us to the miracle itself in a distant future. That is if we are ever so lucky albeit that those steps are steps we expect from any elected government that worth any credibility or legitimacy to begin with.

The Miracle!

1: Restoring the governing institutions of the state to their constitutionally rightful places and an absolute adherence to the notion of separation of powers amongst the three branches of government.

• The legislative body. Both the House of Representative and the House of Elders must be respected and their constitutional authority as an independent legislative body must be fully re-established. Amongst the most notable constitutional duties that the House has been denied to exercise is their authority to summon, question any government official including cabinet ministers as well as their authority to ratify government treats and agreements with other nations or foreign entities without any interference from the executive. It is also paramount that the election of the House of Elders be undertaken and held as soon as possible. This will not only legitimize it as an elected legislator but it will also give a fair representation of the political parties in the senate. Currently, the political parties have virtually no say of what happens in the senate except the party in power nor the lower house has a fair shake to have the upper house adopt legislation passed by its chamber. Delaying elections, which breeds discontent and mistrust amongst political parties and citizens alike, is another challenge that Somaliland can not afford and needs to overcome.
• The Executive branch should be confined to the boundaries of its constitutional limits. The current practice of autocracy by the executive has to end where the president unfortunately is both the head of state and the issuer of construction permits. The ever burgeoning cabinet should be trimmed and replaced with leaner, capable, ethical, moral and deserving one.
• The Judiciary. No branch of government will be able to do its job without having an independent, competent and effective Judiciary branch particularly in the Supreme Court. We need Justices that are worth the very robe that they put on let alone the veneration that are given to the title Justice alone. This must be done in the spirit and the understanding that neither peace nor prosperity can be achieved unless the law of the land is supreme and shepherded by capable justices; no citizen will either realize its full potential without having granted a full respect of its individual rights and freedoms. It is also absolutely crucial to take steps to repeal the so called Gudida Nabadgalyada, the Security Emergency Committee, immediately after power transfer takes place. This committee has been nothing else but an unconstitutional power grab by a dictator whose primary objective was to silence and arrest descending voices who were merely exercising their constitutional rights and freedoms.
• Putting to an end the policy of the three-parties-only, a policy that has no practical purpose other than creating a monopoly of power for the existing parties over Somaliland politics and governance. It is likewise a policy that is counter intuitive to the very concept of multiparty system without witch democracy does not mean much. It is imperative therefore to do away with any law that limits the number of political parties. Limiting political parties is a sure way to kill diversity in political ideology in Somaliland politics and exclude any fresh political blood and ideas entering into Somaliland’s political culture and ideology. It is moreover a definite way to recycle old and outdated political thinking and regimes. The proponents of the three-parties-concept often argue that not limiting the number of political parties in Somaliland to three will lead to unprecedented explosive numbers of political parties that are often tribal entities in nature or worst sub-tribal lineages. The concern is more in the national level in particular. In reality though, to become a national political party by any measure you need to win a substantial representation of the electorate often by law. Normally, it takes in the neighborhood of over 20% of the votes in most democracy of similar electoral voting system and you need to be elected in most regions of the country in general. Furthermore, political parties must win in local elections before they become national parties and reached the minimum mandatory percentage of votes. This is particularly true in single member constituency electoral systems like ours and unlike the proportional representation voting system which is common in many parts of Western Europeans and often produces a minimum of three parties or more with similar percentage of the votes and more or less gives three or four parties equal seats in the parliament with no party having a clear majority. This is often as we all know a recipe for unstable coalition governments and to survive from such uncertainty one needs a mature democracy of which Somaliland lacks. The chances of having more than three national parties are very rare in our electoral system nonetheless. But Somaliland can yet face a similar faith of unstable and weak government. Just imagine where all three current parties have more or less one third of the seats of both houses and the two opposition parties decide to block all major legislation that the president or the governing party introduces to either house. Then you end up a divided House and ineffective government. It is also improbable for one tribe, irrespective of its size, to form a viable national party. In local elections in particular we should have as many as possible parties and they should be encouraged and nurtured. In a nutshell, this is where fresh ideas are born and different political philosophies and political groups with diverse interests converge and merge. The result, then, is a broad representation of the political spectrum of the entire society.

2: Transparency. The culture of secrecy and deals behind closed doors should come to an end and practice of political engagement and national dialogue should be the rule.

3: Corruption. It has become part of our social psyche and it is pervasive in all walks of life in Somaliland from top to bottom from civilian to public officials alike. The government has to lead this battle by creating an effective public audit that has the full trust and support of all branches of the government as well as the support of the public. Government officials that steal public funds and resources should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law while government officials should be paid as adequately as possible. The government must also assure that people should have unrestricted access to the services and entitlements that are granted to them by law and they should never have to bribe an official to receive these services.

4: International Recognition. The government must develop a viable international recognition policy and clearly lay out the means to witch to achieve this goal. It should as well engage and put good use to the large Somaliland Diasporas.
5: Organizational and personnel Development. Developing and nurturing professional and trade associations, human rights organizations and other civil societies is critical to the advancement of the society. Equally important is adequately trained law enforcement personnel and civil administrators. National standardization of school curriculum and emphasis on certification and professionalism in essential services where public safety and interests are in question such as teaching, Health Care services and construction are also indispensable. Meritocracy must be, as well, the whole mark for state hiring and promotion policy.

6: Education. In the short term, much emphasis should be given to technical and trade schools and colleges, particularly, in the areas of teaching, technology, administration, agriculture, husbandry, and more notably Health Care services primarily nursing, midwifery, nutrition, medical records keeping and medical laboratory and technology. Those are areas that are almost absent in Somaliland or severely in shortage. Let me end my comment on education by saying that it is a solemn duty that the history of Somaliland including its long struggle against Siad Barre’s brutal regime be properly investigated and written.

7: Environment, Agriculture, Rural Development, natural resources, live stock and Land Management have been entirely neglected and need to be given the attention that they deserve as they are the very elements that sustain our lives and livelihoods.

8: Completion of departmental laws particularly those laws governing businesses and employee rights and public safety should be completed and implemented.

9: Progressive and equitable tax laws that help build the foundation for economic growth and development shall be put forth.
10: Independence of the media. Media should be independent but responsible and all Political Parties should have equal access to all media that are in the hands of the government. To save guard journalistic integrality and professionalism, besides the constitutional guarantees of the media, there should be complimentary laws that further clarify the rights as well as the responsibility of the media.

In summary, the social ills that our nation is currently facing are systemic, too challenging, and too many. To remedy those ills, we need to be ingenious in our solutions and inherently persistent.

By Yussuf Mohamed Issa | OPINIONS | Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Nashville, TN
yussufissa@yahoo.com

 Email this story

By Mo Guled

Tags: Somaliland election, Somaliland election winner, UCID, UDUB