“Ballots and Bullets: The Tale of the Two Somalias”
World Defense Review
Summary comments by author below; complete account here:
July 6, 2010
J. Peter Pham, PhD.
Senior Vice President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Associate Professor at James Madison University, Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA).
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
My “Strategic Interests” column today for World Defense Review takes a look at last week’s presidential election in Somaliland, which I just returned from observing as part of a nineteen-member multinational delegation organized by the International Republican Institute and led by Ambassador Richard Williamson, most recently U.S. Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan, and Constance Berry Newman, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
The poll, which met international standards for a free and fair election, resulted in a victory for Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud “Silanyo” of the Kulmiye Party and the prompt promise by the defeated incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin to hand over power at the end of his term later this month. In contrast to Somaliland’s achievement of this noteworthy milestone in democratic governance and state-building, Somalia’s self-appointed “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG) continues to prove utterly incapable of asserting itself even within just Mogadishu against a widespread Islamist insurgency that has taken control of most of the southern and central Somali regions.
My conclusion is that:
The recent peaceful election and upcoming democratic transition highlight Somaliland’s moral and strategic appeal to the United States and other members of the international community. Whatever their shortcomings, the people of Somaliland have demonstrated over the course of nearly two decades a dogged commitment to peacefully resolving their internal conflicts, rebuilding their society, and forging a democratic constitutional order. Their achievements to date are nothing short of remarkable in subregion as challenging as the Horn of Africa, especially when one considers the lack of international recognition under which they labor. Somaliland needs increased engagement, not just politically, but economically. Even if the United States and the European Union are unwilling to move ahead with diplomatic recognition until African states are ready to proceed, at the very least some sort of interim status needs to be found to give Somaliland access to the global economic system so that its people can benefit from their land’s vast potential in agriculture, fisheries, and mineral resources…
[I]t is not only prejudicial to our interests, but also antithetical to our ideals, to keep this oasis of stability hostage to the continual conflict which afflicts its neighbors to the south, rather than to hold Somaliland up as an example of what the other Somali regions might aspire to—and could readily achieve if their unelected so-called leaders weren’t so busy fighting tooth-and-nail over the decayed carcass of an utterly collapsed state and the pitiful scraps which some members of the international community stubbornly continue to toss at it in the hope of somehow reanimating a corpse that has been dead for almost two decades. It is high time that the international community dedicate its resources to strengthening the viable, rather than wasting them on the defunct.
One Comment
stop misleading the American people..74 dead as explosions rock Ugandan capital …. Terrorist Ahmed Godane (adopted name: Sheik Mokhtar Abu-Zubeyr), heal from tribal entity sepretest Somaliland
Educate yourself .. Learn the Truth!
am a Somali man and I’m from the former British Somali colony of
Somaliland. I would like the world to know that majority of the people
in that part of the country do not want to be separated from the rest
of the country except the pure clan-dominated party that wants to
establish a government where they could be the majority and the
decision maker, to harm and abuse the rest. It is true there is peace
and development in so-called Somaliland, but let us not forget that
peace came through the contribution of many citizens that do not want
to be independent from the rest of Somalia. If the world recognises
Somaliland, that would lead to civil war and instability of that part
of the country that seems to be enjoying peace Somaliland is no longer
a collection of clans; I would say he is right because Somaliland is
ruled and operated by one clan.
Separatist regime in North-Western
Somalia convincingly continue to lure the international community by
selling true lies via enclave’s misguided media and through
opportunistic international NGOs. The unwarranted propaganda campaign
has taken its toll–even the most prominent media sources such as The
New York Times and Daily Telegraph carried stories pertaining to what
they called ‘Somaliland’s credible election. Indeed, those
organizations have no physical presence on the ground, and have no
idea about Somaliland’s tainted election. Unfortunately, international
observers and fewer journalists who came to report on the facts have
no access to most constituents where the said election is to take
place. They are bound to rely on Hargeisa’s area poll stations. And
Hargeisa is where the separatists cohorts have their strength.
In a desperate attempt to justify Somaliland’s illegitimate election,
Somaliland’s Election Commission reported 1 million registered voters.
Well, if that is the case, not to mention half of the north excluded,
Somaliland all along claimed its population to number 5 million. What
happened to the other 4 million citizens? As misleading as the voting
process itself, the proponents of the enclave’s goal to secede from
the rest of Somalia placed great emphasis on the illegitimate
election. Attaining an international recognition for the enclave has
led them to take direct orders from Addisababa regime.
As part of the Meleze’s plan to farther dismember Somalia, Ethiopia
has established intelligence offices in Hargeisa. Ethiopians carry out
secret operation in Hargeisa in a broad day light; hundreds of
innocent Ogadenia citizens were either killed or arrested in the
process; even the only port in Somaliland, Berbera is subleased to
Addisababa. In return the Meleze regime mires Somaliland die-hard SNM
loyalists whilst consummating the remainder of Somalia. Definitely,
Hargeisa serves as a staging ground for Ethiopia’s Wayaane operatives
who carry out deadly missions within stateless Somalia.
In one of the missions, Ethiopian Secret Police abducted an elderly
Ogaden women who escaped oppression and the assault of the Ethiopian
Army in the Ogaden Region. And when the act was criticized by the
Amnesty International, Somaliland officials openly admitted that the
women was extradited to Ethiopia based on a bilateral relations
between the two countries. The question is: when did Somaliland became
sovereign state? Only sovereign states with treaties can extradite
suspects to one another.
Ethiopia also plays major role in silencing half of the Northern
Somalia’s population, in perspective North Central Regions: Sanaag,
Sool, Ayn and Haylaan. The people in those regions like many others in
the North West and elsewhere in Somalia are pro-union and
categorically oppose dismemberment of Somalia. Smuggling ballot boxes
into those regions was not successful–many of the boxes were
confiscated and the militia that delivered the boxes are in Puntland’s
custody.
To end, all that inhumane acts and lies did not buy international
recognizion for Somaliland in the past, and the election itself is the
last desperate attempt to mislead the international community.
The tribal entity sepretest Somaliland produces most terrorist in Somalia
Ahmed Godane, Alshabab Supreme leader who often imitates Mullah Omar
is from Somaliland. Shirwac, American-Aslbabab martyr, is from
Somaliland. Mohamed Almuhajiri, Alshabab martyr, is from Somaliland.
Ahmed Godane, Alshabab Supreme Leader is from Somaliland.
Shirwac, the Alshabab-American, blew himself in Hargeisa was from Somaliland.
Mohamed Al-Muhajiri, Alshabab from Toronto, was also from Somaliland.
Two Somali detainees, Mohammed Soliman Barre and Ismael Arale, were
transferred to regional authorities in Somaliland.
The Danish cartoonist attacker was also from Somaliland.
latest “Intellectual for Hire”J. Peter Pham Exposes Himself
Al Shabab leader Ahmed Godane aka Sheik Mokhtar Abu-Zubeyr is From Somaliland Region of Somalia
——————————————————————————Dr. J. Peter Pham
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2010/06/dr-j-peter-pham.html
latest “Intellectual for Hire”J. Peter Pham Exposes Himself
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2009/10/latest-intellectual-for-hirej-peter.html
Al Shabab leader Ahmed Godane aka Sheik Mokhtar Abu-Zubeyr is From Somaliland Region of Somalia
http://terrorfreesomalia.blogspot.com/2010/06/al-shabab-leader-ahmed-godane-aka-sheik.html