| Click here to read the full story on Al-Jazeera |
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The Somali people desperately need miracles, as they hope for peace and an accountable government in their land.
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The Somali Transitional Federal Government, headed by President Sheik Sharif Ahmed, expires in August [Reuters]
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For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders
and their international patrons dominated political transitions in the
country. The end results of these affairs have been perpetual political
instability, endless violence and the misery for the population without
any one being held accountable. Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process is enabling several Somali actors to gerrymander the process in order to predetermine the outcome to their advantage. The question that most Somalis are asking is: why is the UN’s Special Representative (SR) who dominates the process allowing sectarian agendas to control the transition and reproduce the mess? This essay attempts to map this odious affair as it unfolds in Mogadishu. It demonstrates how the UN and its corrupt Somali partners are working the system to fabricate an outcome that will reproduce incompetence potentially stoking violence between and among communities. Ending the long transition? The life of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), ends in August 2012 and is to be replaced by a post-transitional order. Since the African Union military force (AMISOM) controls a small but growing section of the country, it is not feasible to conduct national elections which can morally sanction the formation of a new political system. Consequently, the TFG and SR have invented a process that they hope will usher in a new era that reflects their own ambitions. This process guided by what they call the Road Map (RM) was thoughtlessly concocted and consists of the following steps: (a) completion of draft constitution by the UN; (b) formation and empowerment of the so-called seven signatories; (c) selection of ‘traditional elders’ as foundational anchor of the new dispensation; (d) convening of national constituent assembly to sanction the draft constitution; (e) selection of members of parliament; and (f) the election and appointment of a new speaker of parliament, president and prime minister. The completion of these six steps is supposed to mark the end of Somalia’s permanent transition and lead to a new dawn of peace and stability that gives hope to an exhausted population. I proffer that this seemingly orderly process is deeply flawed and might not overcome the problems that have bedeviled the decade long transitional period. Click here to read the full story on Al-Jazeera |
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