Mogadishu — Tensions between two different political factions in Baidoa, led by Mohamed Haji Abdinur and Madobe Nunow Mohamed, have reached new heights after the Somali government announced it brokered a deal between the two sides in a meeting at which Mohamed was not present. Abdinur and Mohamed have been at odds over the formation of Somalias new South-western State since last March, when both were elected president as a result of two competing conferences in Baidoa, one mandating a three-region state comprising Bay, Bakol and Lower Shabelle, and the other calling for the new state also to include Gedo, Lower Jubba and Middle Jubba, which united to form the Interim Jubba Administration (IJA) last year. But on June 23rd, the Somali government announced that the president of the three-region state, Abdinur, and representatives from the rival six-region state led by Mohamed had reached consensus and signed an agreement in Mogadishu to jointly form an interim regional administration with jurisdiction over Bay, Bakol and Lower Shabelle. Mohamed, however, dismissed the agreement, calling it null and void because the minister who signed it on his behalf, Abdifatah Mohamed Ibrahim, did not represent him and was relieved of his duties before he participated in the negotiations. More talks, reconciliation needed: The agreement also has been met with widespread criticism from clan leaders and politicians alike who have called on the federal government to retract the agreement and facilitate more talks to ensure the participation of all stakeholders in the reconciliation process. Citizens also protested the agreement, holding three consecutive days of public demonstrations in Baidoa that ended with the commencement of Ramadan on June 29th. The governments decision [to acknowledge the three-region state] will not work because it is unconstitutional, said Hassan Elmi Yahya, one of the elders of the Hawiye clan. The constitution states that two or more regions that are in agreement can establish a federal state, but the people of Lower Shabelle are not ready to join Bay and Bakol. There is a [clan] war going on in Lower Shabelle. It needs reconciliation, therefore the people must first reconcile, he told Sabahi. For his part, Mohamed, president of the six-region state, said the core issue at stake was how to ensure that people from all the clans who reside in the six regions in question are able to participate in politics and are represented in their local governments. Before achieving a compromise, he said, more talks are needed with the IJA. This can lead to an agreement on how to identify [and protect the rights of] the people who live in Jubba who share our ancestry and the people from Jubba who live in Bay, Bakol and Lower Shabelle, Mohamed told Sabahi. Agreement reveals discord in federal government: The controversial agreement has also caused divisions within the Somali federal government, with Minister of Interior and Federalism Abdullahi Godah Barre protesting against the move, calling it unconstitutional and premature. Until now, the Council of Ministers has not agreed on a law delineating the procedure for establishing regional administrations, Barre said in an interview with the BBC Somali Service, adding that the matter should be put on hold until the government can make a clear decision about the process of establishing federal states. Barre also said his ministry was not made aware of the agreement and that such agreements undermine the ministrys work. However, Minister of Sports and Youth Khalid Omar Ali, who has been tasked to lead talks between the two factions in Baidoa on behalf of the federal government, dismissed Barres criticism and said there was no discord among leaders in the federal government over how to deal with the situation in Baidoa. The president, speaker of parliament and the prime minister have all agreed. The countrys leadership have reached consensus on the agreement and the cabinet has approved it. All of them would not have agreed on it if it was something wrong, he told Sabahi. A path forward: Baidoa native Ibrahim Ali Ahmed, who served as the Zaila district commissioner under the Mohamed Siad Barre regime, said the only way the three-region state can succeed is through more dialogue and reconciliation. They will have to first sit with and appease the president of the six regions, Madobe Nunow [Mohamed]. They have to also reconcile with the public. That is what can bring a solution, he told Sabahi. Nothing will work unless it is started through dialogue and reconciliation. Ahmed also urged leaders of the three-region state to ensure minority clans living in those regions are included in the establishment of the new state administration. Minister of Planning and Co-operation for the three-region state Mohamed Abdullahi Mursal said officials from his state are planning to hold talks with all relevant clans as part of the agreement. Somalias interests do not lie in new conflicts, he told Sabahi. We will give everyone from the region an opportunity to take part in the administration. We will talk to everyone and the door to dialogue will remain open for us. Mursal said they would build an inclusive administration for all people who live in the three regions and that the time to take things by force has passed. We have emerged from the civil war and we will not go back to that. We promise to see at the dialogue table anyone who is not looking to benefit through war and the barrel of the gun, he said.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 00:41:14 +0000
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