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Bashir Ashkir
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Regardless of who is in power the country needs to be run. And with the 2009 elections approaching, if it is ever to happen, we have no clue of what will happen and how this transition will be managed. Although this seems not only more than a twentieth century brainstorms, the horrific need that we are in today would command the truth. History itself proved it. The country has been in a situation of zigzagging politics, and devastating chaotic level of challenges which left hundreds of thousands of lives unreported for nearly twenty years. For such, we should understand the basic existence of human nature and let the country be ruled by justice.
Mr. Prime Minister it is a matter of fact that Somali clans were used as scapegoats; there are some facts that led us to a wrong way in our journey to a new land. This current administration is part of the problem. Consider this hypothesis with me: First, one of the worst approaches that we based our system of power-sharing on is contemptuous: the “4.5” approach. This is ostensibly contemptuous approach of power sharing among tribes. It has a unique technicality that the inventor intended it to be as infectious as it seems to every conscious man. Let’s reject it so we don’t face the consequences in the future.
The second thing is the unprofessional legislators. The TFG legislators, Mr. Prime minister, were neither professional legislators elected by popular vote nor a conviction and common law-driven law makers. Instead, they were chosen and picked up by unconcerned hands among bribe-influenced elements of warriors whose personal interests are greater than anything else. This is why we are going nowhere for four and so years. I was also told that most them had done every stupid thing in the book.
The third scenario relates to the old executive model that you presented to us. Due to unprofessional house-runners, the high posts in your government automatically became corrupt and discriminatory. Clan based bureaucracy never does any good in history. In addition, the current branches of government seem to have the same power that further led us to a chronic competence among the executing officials. The presidency and the premiership, in this regime is, have constitutional powers which are plainly interpretable, so no overlap is tolerated. In other words, the average person doesn’t understand who has the power just because of what seemed to be competing powers. The hostile sensitivity among clans readily translates the worst when you bypass the constitution and rely on your moral sequence at a time when people don’t get your motives. And as Mutahi Ngunyi, Kenyan political scientist, put it, “If we cannot get rid of corruption, let’s make it available to all.”
Next is the foreign interference that took its share from the outset. This is, indeed, inevitable disaster. Foreigners pay our legislators and in turn they are expected to delegate everything to those who pay them. In political practice, donors and other financial institutions pay their money out not because that we are good people realizing democracy; but they saw their interest in our country, and the reason they are paying our legislators is to foster and accommodate their energetic strategy. Had we stopped this to happen, we would have the opportunity to put them under negotiation.
Finally, Mr. Prime Minister, I would like you to share this idea with me. Since we do not have constitutional framework based on justice, we should employ conviction and common law. As you keep on reading, bear in mind that almost every developed nation in the world today had undergone a painful time when conviction and common law worked best, and that we are indifferent. The TFG’s constitution was formulated by non-Somali nationals and doesn’t correspond to our concerns, so we should reject it in toto.
What is the alternative? Let’s choose a commission of energetic Somali law professionals. We can set them up to work as an electoral commission, appointed by the Prime Minister, who works through the transitional election period. This jury would prepare a referendum on which we are going to vote and decide our road map to political stabilization right before the TFG mandate expiries. In the meantime, they should appoint a sub-committee within the jury, who formulates a constitution and transitional initiatives. This referendum would be placed on ballot in order to be voted on by the citizen. At this point, we have constitutional recommendations on which MPs, president, and premier are going to be elected. In addition to that, they would probably set a convention where the constitutional amendments will have been discussed with politicians and civil society activists. I will discuss the contents that the referendum and initiatives would be about in later article. Let’s hope a peaceful transition in 2009.
Bashir Ashkir, political science student.
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