please no warlords in power!

[Mr.somali]

I found this marvelous article by MM Gure on hiiraanonline.

 

what do you people think about his arguments?

 

PLEASE NO WARLORDS IN POWER

 

 

By MM Gure

As the eight months old conference enters its final stage and serious business of power sharing is about to begin, the battle for the next interim head of state has taken a head start. So far, over ten hopeful candidates have announced their intentions to run for this highly contested office. Another dozen or so may join this lead group and number of candidates could reach well over 25.

 

However, reliable sources at the conference confirm the outcome of the conference will be in the hands of one of the organizing countries, Ethiopia. Ethiopia is determined to install one of the warlords it backs. If it doesn't succeed, it will invalidate the outcome of the conference, perhaps using the fundamentalist card as it did to discredit the current TNG.

 

The plan to put warlords in power has long begun when the selection of delegates for the conference started. Observers at the conference believe that two-third of the 361 committee members have been hand picked by the warlords, of course with the influence of Ethiopia in the organizing committee. The plan is to include all 361 members into the interim parliament. This obviously will give warlords a clear majority in the interim parliament. However, knowing the suspicions and distrust between the faction leaders, the interim parliament will be crippled by their intransigence and interim government should fail to implement its reconciliation and recovery programs.

 

 

Moreover, the warlords are lobbying to create 450 strong parliament, which literally exacts the United States congress. Ironically, there is not comparison between Somalia and United States of America as the later is wealthier and has a population of over 300 million people. However, a panel of intellectuals selected by the international community has put forward a draft proposal which limited the number of parliament deputies at 171 exactly. This number seems to suit Somalia as it is manageable and close to reality of Somalia's population and economic situation.

 

Endorsing warlords to usurp power in Somalia has the predictable consequences of committing more atrocities, this time in the name of the government. It will mean giving criminals a legitimacy and license to kill and detain without trial. It will be an unjustifiable violation of human moral decency and breach of international law in protecting the lives of civilians. The idea itself of installing warlord at the pinnacle of power in a state which needs more gun shy leaders than gun tooting heartless thugs shouldn't be a topic of discussion at all.

 

How do we convince a ten year old survivor whose family was massacred, a mother whose son was kidnapped and killed and a widow whose husband was gunned down in front of his children while begging for mercy? Will these people feel secure and protected under the rule of those who murdered their beloved ones? Wouldn't the whole fiasco look as if the international community is rewarding the perpetrators of heinous crimes against civilians and punishing the victims and survivors of this long ordeal? The harrowing pictures of starving and dying children of 1992 are still very fresh in the minds of many people.

 

By default rather than by design, a warlord will ignore the constitution and will transform himself into a brutal dictator operating above the law. Respect for human rights and civil liberties will be thrown out of the window. The return of democratic system of governance and long sought after peace and tranquility will become a dream far away. Moreover, an administration run by a warlord will be corrupt and inefficient and distortion and embezzlement of public funds will become a common practice in day life. The overwhelming logic of preferring anarchism over government rule is based on the fact that the later is identified with tyranny, corruption, nepotism and bloodletting. A warlord rule will be intolerable, unbearable and bloody.

 

On the other hand, internal power struggle and political tensions will arise. Such political turmoil will lead to incoherence and long term political chaos. It will create an unstable environment where the newly formed administration succumbs to the will of intransigent power hungry individuals at the pinnacle. Not unlike the current TNG, the new administration will fail to exert its authority outside its residence due to lack of political unity and of course, the lack of public confidence and support.

 

Bearing in mind the scale of destruction and devastation that took place during years of fighting and neglect and high cost of rehabilitation and scanty economic situation that Somalia is experiencing, Somalia must not have more a dozen very important ministries. The creation of many ministries will not only stretch the scarce resources donated by the international community, but will limit the progress of rebuilding the primary infrastructure of the ruined state.

 

Somalia needs someone who didn't commit atrocities against civilians. It badly needs a charismatic and politically astute and proven to be pragmatic decision-maker with sound knowledge of the complex nature of Somalia's politics and diplomacy in winning people's confidence and averting politically quagmire situations; someone who is tolerant and can accommodate all different groupings and perceived as neutral.

 

Somalia needs a system of government based on constitutional laws that function, independent justice system and accountability. The Somali people didn't have peace and tranquility in over 25 years. Somalia needs peace, liberty and return of the democratic system of governance lost in 1969. Somalis don't only want peace but peace with liberty (freedom to express once opinion, freedom to own a property, business or settle wherever and whenever one pleases), because peace without liberty is what we had during the military regime. Peace wrapped in a package with evils of intimidation, detention without trial, torture and summary execution is not what any society would pray for.

 

Somalia needs to be rehabilitated and re-integrated into the international community to assume its responsibilities and play its role in regional and international peace and security. A government which can build partnership in peace, security, environmental protection and economic development with its neighbors should be the better choice than grooming warlords.

 

The international community has obligations to assist the Somali people overcome this tragic moment and should interfere rather than watch from the sidelines at this very critical stage. It should use its influence to encourage the organizing countries to respect the will of the Somali people, the beneficiaries of its outcome. It must prevent the empowerment and installation of warlords into power. It must pressure Ethiopia to discontinue its influence on the outcomes of the conference. Otherwise, this conference will become another statistics and Nairobi5 reconciliation conference will be inevitable. It should insure that the outcome of the conference is based on justice and legitimacy.

 

By: MM Gure

Somali Institute of Peace