Somalia: Puntland presidential contenders, or political opportunists? [Editorial]

Since its inception in 1998, Puntland has largely been spared the vicious cycle of factional fighting, violent power struggles, displacement of civilians, and humanitarian disasters that has sadly characterized suffering and destruction in much of south-central Somalia, since the Somali state collapse 23 years ago. 

Puntland’s political stability has been the bedrock of growth and development – over 1million Somalis displaced by violent rampages and clan persecution in Mogadishu, Kismayo and other southern towns returned to rebuild their ancestral homelands in Puntland, establishing new urban centers in Bossaso, Galkayo, Las Anod, Badhan, and Garowe. Commercial trade flourished between northern Somalia via Puntland’s port of Bossaso and the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries, foreign and Diaspora investment boosted the local economy, the State’s governance and security apparatus developed, and Puntland’s domestic and international credibility rose accordingly.

The Puntland presidential elections of 1998, 2005 and 2009 were peaceful and orderly, featuring civic debates at public symposiums, a homegrown legitimate political process led by Issimo (titled elders) to select Members of Parliament –after broad-based community consultations – to the 66-member Puntland Parliament, and the MPs in turn elected a President and a Vice President. In each of those elections, all the contenders recognized and congratulated the victor as President of Puntland after a smooth transition of power.

The 2014 presidential election in Puntland will be no different. The Interim Charter of Puntland, which established the State, was adopted at the Garowe Constitutional Convention of 1998 by a 480-member Constituent Assembly, representing all communities and civil society in Puntland. Under the leadership of the current Puntland President Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, the Interim Charter of 1998 and the subsequent Draft Constitution of 2007 was reviewed and replaced by the Puntland Constitution, which was in turn adopted by a 480-member Puntland Constituent Assembly in Garowe on April 18, 2012. Accordingly, President Farole became the first Puntland leader to serve a five-year term, as ordained by the State’s adopted constitution. 

2014 presidential contenders

There are at least 12 Puntland presidential candidates – and the number continues to grow. President Farole and the Vice President of Puntland, Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, are running for reelection. The opposition candidates are disorganized, lack a cohesive political strategy and public message, many are political novices, and some seem to be in pursuit of Cabinet posts in the next elected administration.

Undoubtedly recognizing their lack of cohesion, a group of opposition candidates apparently held discussions over the phone and issued a six-point declaration on Oct. 29, 2013, followed by a face-to-face meeting in Nairobi, where a group of presidential candidates met and issued a second public declaration on Nov. 6, 2013. Both of the presidential candidates’ public declarations were centered on the upcoming Puntland election and featured a mixture of slander and personal attacks directed at President Farole, misleading perspectives, unreasonable political demands, and outright fabrication regarding Puntland’s political history.

The public declarations signed by presidential contenders accused President Farole of “seeking to stay in power”, demanded that President Farole “relinquish” his constitutional power in commanding the State’s governance and security apparatus, because Dr. Farole “is among the presidential candidates”, demanded that the Parliamentary Vetting Committee in “jointly nominated by all the presidential candidates”, demanded that Gen. Shire “leave Taleh district” of Sool region in Puntland, where the Vice President is engaged in peace meetings, and dictated that the Puntland Issimo (elders) conference should be held in Qardo, as requested by an Acting Issim (acting titled elder).

Setting the record straight

Firstly, the presidential contenders seem to confuse issue-based matters with politician-focused talking points. Launching accusations against President Farole is expectedly part of the political game, but what is both unreasonable and unacceptable is to demand that President Farole “relinquish” his presidential authority to command governance and security apparatus prior to Election Day on January 8, 2014. This is a recipe for disaster, as a security vacuum would be created in Puntland that will only benefit the State’s numerous enemies – including Al Shabaab militants. 

To run for office in Puntland, all of the presidential candidates must recognize and abide by the Puntland Constitution, which rightfully prevents the emergence of political and security vacuum in Puntland, that jeopardizes the State's hard-won peace and stability.

Secondly, the presidential candidates’ argument that Vice President Gen. Shire should “leave Taleh district” is shameful and exposes the inherent political naivety and weakness of their public message. Responding to the candidates, Gen. Shire said it best: “ It is not possible for me to demand that candidate-so-and-so should not campaign or should leave Galkayo or another town in Puntland”. Equally, it is morally and politically wrong that candidates from Galkayo, Garowe or Qardo demand that Gen. Shire should leave his home town of Taleh in Sool region, where he is actively engaged in community peace and reconciliation meetings with the Issimo (titled elders), promoting the community’s solidarity with Puntland, and weakening Somaliland’s false claim on Sool region.

Third, some political observers have remarked that Sool MPs cannot join Puntland Parliament, because their “elders will not sign nomination letters”. This argument is invalid and self-defeating, because: A) the 2009 election was held while Las Anod was outside of Puntland control yet Sool MPs joined Puntland Parliament and the 2009 election occurred; B) there is no legal precedent for whether Clan X or Clan Y can "withdraw from Puntland", because both the 1998 Interim Charter and the 2012 adopted Constitution of Puntland recognize the unity of regions (not clans) and require transformation from region-based representation politics to multi-party political system in Puntland; and C) Sool MPs have many prominent Sool Issimo (titled elders) who will sign nomination letters, if a smaller group of Issimo rejects to do so. We believe that this notion of throwing into question Sool MPs is a political tactic aimed at undermining the Puntland election process and it will most likely backfire on the presidential candidates pushing that failed agenda.

Fourth, former Puntland President Gen. Mohamud (Adde) Muse Hersi nominated the Parliamentary Vetting Committee on November 15, 2008, less than two months ahead of the 2009 presidential election in Puntland. The 2014 candidates' public declaration included outright fabrication of that previous process, by falsely claiming that the 2009 presidential candidates "jointly nominated" the Parliamentary Vetting Committee. That Committee's sole mandate is to match constitutional criteria for MPs with nomination letters from their Issimo (titled elders), in order to prevent criminals from joining Puntland Parliament.

Fifth, why are presidential candidates so keen to issue demands that the Issimo (titled elders) hold a meeting, when the Issimo are the only ones sanctioned to declare and organize such a meeting?

Presidential candidates or political opportunists?

So we get it. Puntland’s presidential hopefuls have no political strategy, nor a public message. They are mostly riding on the “anti-incumbent bandwagon” and hoping that Puntland public opinion is against the incumbent administration. We believe that this is a strategy short on fuel, because unless the other candidates bring a caliber of leadership equivalent to or surpassing President Farole, their chance of success diminishes.

Judging by the current cadre of candidates, only Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Gaashas served in a political position of leadership, and most Puntland people are well-aware of his performance as Somali Prime Minister, 2011-2012. There is no question that the current Federal Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari – then as head of a constitutional committee IFCC  – drafted a highly centralized so-called "federal constitution" during the premiership of Dr. Gaas, and that "draft constitution" was rightfully rejected by Puntland government in May 2012, leading to a frantic constitutional review process that concluded in Nairobi on June 22, 2012. 

Again, during the leadership of Dr. Gaas as Prime Minister, the agreed-upon Somali Federal Constitution signed in Nairobi by the Six Signatories including President Farole of Puntland and Dr. Gaas as Prime Minister, was unlawfully changed by Federal Speaker Jawari in Mogadishu, who published an unlawfully revised constitution on September 7, 2012 (note that Dr. Gaas was replaced by new Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon a month later, on October 7, 2012).

When asked on Somali media about Puntland's rejection of the tampered federal constitution, Dr. Gaas has challenged Puntland to "bring forth" the amended articles, but all the 30 amended articles and clauses were presented by Puntland to Prime Minister Shirdon, during his visit to Garowe in March 2013, and later published for public consumption. Did Dr. Gaas not receive the list of amended articles (published by Puntland in both Somali language and English translation), or is he deflecting blame for a great failure under his leadership?

The presidential candidates have not yet clearly presented their distinct political platforms, so the Puntland public cannot tell them apart, other than the candidates' aggressive criticism of the current Puntland administration. However, it is the candidates' deafening silence on important issues in Puntland which exposes their true color. For instance, the presidential contenders are mysteriously silent to challenge the Somali Federal Government’s constitutional abuses and policy failures targeting Puntland and the issue of autonomy in general (anti-federalism policies), nor the Federal Government’s funding and arming of clan militia in central regions to wage war on Puntland’s city of Galkayo, yet the candidates’ criticism for the Puntland administration is distastefully loud.

So one wonders: are they genuine presidential candidates with Puntland's best interest at heart, or simply political opportunists exploiting the moment? 

Garowe Online Editorial 
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