Opinion: What is missing in Somaliland political parties?

[Jacaylbaro]

The beauty of democracy is how the political parties exercise their right to freedom and that could be attained on how these institutions deliver their responsibilities in representing their constituencies. However; the services provided by political parties in Somaliland do not please me and that could be attributed to many factors chief among them are traditions and norms that govern the political and democracy of this country. Following are commentary of points usually missed by the political parties in Somaliland.

 

The political parties in Somaliland have very much similar political beliefs and objectives (to attain political power within the government) but do not often espouse a certain ideology and vision to lift the country out of mess. Some of the political parties (kulmiye) for instances potray failed politicians who project them selves as the men of the masses, taking up the issues of the man of the street instead of clear political agenda with mission and another ( UCID) do not even let the government criticized for core issues that unites or pull the people together but instead make sheer accusations based only in personal interest and hatred and think only more often how they would survive in the years to come. Other (ruling party) drive people politically by using cheap tactics taking advantage of what they want rather than genuine political reality.

 

they oppose the ruling party simply for the sake of power but do not feel that they are free to criticize the government policies and provide or propose an alternative approach or view. The point missing in the political parties in Somaliland are they do not know even that they have a role to play in keeping the public informed about issues relating to government administration and are not supposed to put personal hatred and groupings above everything else but must win the hearts and souls of every citisen in order to achieve a paradise of politics and that could be possible when the political party has an objective, vision, ideology and of course principles which a political party supports to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said party's candidates voted into office.

 

A Political philosophy is also missing which must be the driven force of the party and one that raises public consciousness through workshops, public rallies and debates in both print and electronic media. The party should have programme based on the philosophy held by the party and there are two different types of programmes i.e. programmes made on grounds of principle and working programmes. The former contain the general and fundamental beliefs whereas the latter is more specific and can be considered a working tool in the daily work. The working programme accounts for the future political plans of the party within a specific number of areas relating to society and for that case party should seek support for its programes as programes are from the people by the people and for the people; having said that the party will have an influence over the state of affairs be in the parliament (Guurti also included in this case) and if you don’t have that influence the existance of such party is in question and you have no excuse - none what so ever not to win them. It should have also links with similar parties in the neighboring countries and governments as it makes the difference in the local politics.

 

 

 

The party membres and the general public may have concerns regarding every thing in the form of criticism but there must be tolerance and accepetance of the critics to make sure that mistakes are corrected and the demands of the people are addressed adequately so that people feel that their concerns are felt and that rules of truth and evidence determine direction of the party and the government.

 

 

 

 

 

Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi

[Xargaga]

I really dont unduerstand the point the author what us to grasp here. The author seems to have been impressed by the western political model and would like it compared to the one in his native homeland. He however forgets that the political system he studied at whatever college he attended has been modeled for a totally diffeent population, with a different socio-economic structure from that of somaliland. Anyways the author also wants us to believe that he is neutral, but any sane reader could tell that he is a stunch 'Udub Supporter in a closet". All in all, Looking at the Riyale's administration from retrospective view is what is missing from the author's opinion, yet he started by bashing the opposition which exposed his lack of prospective optimism in their strugle with a tyrany in the making.

[Xargaga]

UDUB, UCID AND Kulmiye…are there any differences? This was not the meeting I attended.

 

It is possible for two people to attend the same meeting and come out with widely differing views. A case in point is a presentation I attended recently in Minneapolis given by Dr. Ahmed Hussein Esa, Kulmiye’s Foreign Affaris Secretary. Abdi Jama of Minnesota University, who attended the same meeting expressed his opinion in a piece that appeared in Awdalnews uner the above title.

 

First, let me state for the record that Dr. Esa’s presentation, I believe, was by far the best presentation by any Somaliland politician I have recently come across. This same appreciation and sentiment was expressed by others I have spoken to since. Contrary to Abdi Jama’s assertion that Dr. Esa “as anticipated censured and mercessily bashed, for the most part, the modus operandi of the current government” Dr. Esa carefully avoided “the blame game” that some of our political leaders are fond of. Indeed Dr. Esa did not discuss the modus operandi of the current government, but clearly emphasized the lack of achievements of successive Somaliland administrations. His theme was after 16 years of standing in place and sub-par achievements, Somaliland needed to change its leaders and its political strategy. In his entire presentation, Dr. Esa did not mention any of the political parties. Reference to political parties came only in the question and answer session where the speaker was asked direct questions relating to Kulmiye and there Dr. Esa made a strong case for his party.

 

The problem with Abdi Jama’s analysis can be found in two specific areas. Firstly, he uses the words “as anticipated”. Well, there lies the assumption and the bias. Abdi Jama obviously does not know Ahmed Esa well. If he did, he would not have ‘anticipated” any bashing from him. Secondly, Abdi Jama tried in his piece to put words in Dr. Esa’s mouth. I do not recall, Dr. Esa using the phrase, “kaadida u soo cabay” italicized for emphasis in Abdi Jama’s article. As I recall, in responses to Abdi question Dr. Esa candidly responded that there were no major ideological differences in the platforms of the three political parties. Dr. Esa believes that at this juncture in Somaliland political development, leadership matters more than political ideology; that Somaliland first and foremost needs leaders who are enlightened about good governance and the rule of law and who are willing and able to nurture the infant political democracy that we have chosen for our land. When FDR was elected President of the United States at the height of the economic depression and started instituting make-work public works programs to boost employment, he was criticized for ‘socialism” to which he coined his now famous response “it is neither fish nor fowl, but I am sure it tastes good to the people”. This is where Somaliland is now, a station where a caring leader mindful of the bight of his people and willing to sacrifice for them, is much better than one blinded by ‘ideology”.

 

Nevertheless, Dr. Esa continued on to state that Kulmiye will present at its upcoming conference a party manifesto that included a detailed program and summarized some of the important elements “proper education, industrial development, enabling environment for the business community and food security especially water works projects”.

 

It is unfortunate that Abdi Jama confined his analysis of Dr. Esa’s thoughtful and well-crafted presentation to the single question that he asked at the end of presentation and even here awfully misrepresented Dr. Esa’s candid answer.

 

Abdihakim Haji Saeed

[rudy-Diiriye]

i believe the major problems with these parties are the lack of cutting thru clan lines. u can basically circle each party and say, yup...it represents a certain clan.

 

this a major problem for the forward progress of any somali party and its wat makes them stagnant.

[Jacaylbaro]

what is missing is a detailed program and timeframe of what they want to do ,,,,, repeating the same thing from each party is just boring ,,,,,,,

[rudy-Diiriye]

wats miss there is leadership and also rest of somalia 2.

[Jacaylbaro]

What is missing is a clear vision of the parties

[Xargaga]

Rebuttal of Mr. A.A Jama’s misinforming article of Dr. A.H Essa’s recent visit to Minneapolis.

 

In response to a recent perplexing and tainted article written by Mr. A. A Jama, I could not help but feel bewildered at the inaccuracies and misrepresentation of the actual event. The article has by far been contrary to the real presentation and exchange of a briefing session convened in Minneapolis by Dr. A.H Essa of Kulmiye party.

 

Rather, despite his disclaimer of not belonging to a political party, It seemed evident and quite obvious that Mr.Jama’s argument may have been a personal vendetta. This has been demonstrated by his indulgence of attacks on honorable Dr. Essa and his poor attempt to retrospectively hijack the discourse and paint it Udub bashing as he put it. Such shadow and erratic personalities have, unfortunately, become a common hunting scheme to fruition by some individuals. Such proxies are doomed to fail.

 

Dr. Essa has a sound and distinguished history and track record of which it speaks for itself and therefore I will not attempt to defend. However, it is my responsibility, as a citizen like any other, to dispel facts from fictitious and erroneous claims that may be politically motivated or otherwise personal.

 

From my perspective, as a truly non-partisan, Dr. Essa had put together a well-executed presentation that was multi faceted and precisely to the heart of the grave issues faced by our infant republic.

 

Yes, it was quite obvious and a no brainier, that Dr. Essa, while briefing us of the current situation of the republic, was certainly there to sell his party, albeit in a manner that was educated, candid and adorned with civility. It would be expected of any politician to cater his party to the wider audience, a task Dr. Essa did not shy away from. To this end, any intelligent, orientated or with an inch of political expertise, would know to be taken with a cum grano salis. It is the responsibility of any informed citizen to filter what is party bias, in other words party propaganda to further their cause, from the real issues that are at the heart of the matter. A point which eluded Mr. Jama as he has failed to grasp it and has seemed to be in a state of diem perdidi.

 

 

On the contrary, having been following Somaliland politics, debates, or politically motivated dialogues, in absentia, I was impressed with Dr. Essa’s knowledge, expertise, character and candidness. He was by far very well versed with the issues and affairs of both the nation and beyond, and has provided possible exploratory remedies of which he did not elaborate further, due to lack of time and speculatively lack of party positional consensus it seemed. It may be true that Dr. Essa has not been forthcoming about his party’s deficiencies, per se, nonetheless, he has shown eagerness to fulfill the belly of the curious.

 

Unless delusional, any realist would expect such tactics from any sharp politician. In fact, side tracking and shifting the binoculars of scrutiny from their party is a trademark of career politicians.

 

Dr. Essa has put forth his views about the danger faced by indifference and neglect of the republic. Clearly, he argues that the leadership of the nation needs to be changed. Of course, we would expect this from the opposition party and these views will be consistent with those of his Kulmiye party. Now, as has been postulated many times before, Kulmiye as a party itself may lack direction, sound leadership and therefore could benefit from a change of top leadership itself vis-à-vis Somaliland’s top leadership. On these grounds there is a well-founded merit and I might entertain an exchange, albeit devoid of personal attacks, with the expectation and hope of constructive criticism for the sake of advancing our people and land.

Moreover, another point of discussion, as Mr. Jama alluded to, by saying that Dr. Essa was "attempting to delude his audience", may perhaps be, do we need career politicians who can "delude" their audience?

 

Before I dwell further, let me remind us that "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". These characteristics of Dr. Essa, if indeed true, would certainly appeal to sections of the same audience in engagement, who consider such tricky possession as the right quality and ammunition to succeed and sail through the rough and hostile seas invested by our adversaries. Others will be rebelled, as your case reveals. I say to you, this is the essence of the art of politics and the reason for political parties.

 

Somaliland is at cross roads. There is a clear and grave danger that we are faced with of which the ramifications and consequences, of indifference and neglect of the remedy, will be far felt into the future. Our existence and preservation, as such, is in jeopardy. We are in political, economic and ideological stagnation. Clearly, the republic needs change of guards. The republic deserves new blood, if you will, which is a capable, smart, directive and well acquainted with both local and international political maneuvering. If you had reviewed Dr. Essa’s record, capacity and what is at his disposable of the highest level and quality, I am confident you will not have looked any further. This will be the testimony of anybody that knows Dr. Essa or has had the privilege of working relationship.

 

We, all of SomaliLanders, from Low-yacado and Bokh to Aynabo and Dhahar will testify to this fact. We have the same goals and driven by the same vision. Our difference is certainly grounded on which avenue that may lead us to our goals and dreams. Again, here is where political parties come in to choose the most viable and competent candidate.

 

As Mr. Jama started on his title, before he deviated from course, "Udub, Ucid and Kulmiye. Is there any difference? We should perhaps bring this debate, with no malaise and personal attacks, to the fore front and force political parties to put leaders that are capable of formulating a course of direction that is presentable and thus can be sold at the relevant international arenas. This, in my humble view, is what, at this stage, Somaliland shed tears for the most. It will, beyond measure, propel the cause into the next orbit.

 

If Udub and cohorts can achieve this, which I doubt given their time at the helm and track record of corruption and discord, then so be it. Surely the voters will decide through the polls.

 

In the meanwhile, we can all do our share and contribute both as collective as well as unitary advocacy measures in a non-partisan fashion, with the sole goal of Somaliland.

 

 

Dr. M.Y Bokh, Minneapolis