UNPOS
Friday, May 25, 2012
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, briefed the press today on the recent progress on the Somalia political process. The SRSG had just returned from three days of meetings and deliberations in Addis Ababa with the principal signatories of Roadmap for the End of Transition in Somalia. The meeting cleared many of the obstacles that have blocked the drafting and adoption of the provisional new Somali constitution and ending the transitional period on 20 August this year. On 23 May, the signatories to the Roadmap agreed that the Elders now meeting in Mogadishu would select the delegates for the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) no later than 20 June. They agreed that the NCA will convene on 2 July to choose the members of the new Somali Parliament. This selection process will be validated by an arbitration committee comprised of the Elders themselves and will be completed by the end of the month.
“These meetings of the principals were dynamic and sometimes contentious. But most importantly, they were ultimately successful,” said SRSG Mahiga. Among the key decisions was the expansion of the Technical Selection Committee for the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) and the new parliament, which will now be broadened to represent the clans and to include international observers; and the convening of a technical committee which worked for three days to harmonize and incorporate the recommendations of the signatories into the draft interim constitution to ensure that it is ready for presentation to the NCA in accordance with the new timetable.
“There is a real spirit of camaraderie and a drive for progress amongst the signatories of the Roadmap. The process is moving forward and the Somali leadership is committed to meeting the challenging, but achievable, timetable. It is critical that all parties, including the International Community, now pull together to support this process.”
“Somalia is less than ninety days away from the most momentous event in its recent history. The agreements made in Addis Ababa cleared the road of any procedural obstacles, ensuring the transition will go forward as planned,” said the SRSG. “We have no time to lose. There is not a moment to spare as Somalia and its partners get down to work and ensure this process is participatory, legitimate, inclusive, transparent and, above all, Somali-owned.”
The communiqué issued by the signatories also recommends that in order to take action on critical legislation currently stuck in the Somali Parliament, the President of the Transitional Federal Government use a presidential decree to convene the NCA, steer the constitutional process towards the adoption stage and to adopt the long-pending National Security and Stabilization Plan which lays the foundation for the development of the Somali justice and security sector.