By Liban Ahmad
Jan. 17, 2011
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The decision of Puntland government to “discontinue its cooperation with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia” (TFG) is, in the eyes of many people, a major political gamble. Puntland - TFG cooperation was strained by the resignation of the first TFG president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in December 2008. The second TFG president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, assumed power in January 2009, the same month Abdirahman Farole was elected Puntland president. President Abdirahman Farole welcomed the Djibouti reconciliation conference out of which the expansion of the TFG parliament and absorption of a wing of the former Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia into TFG institutions emerged, but now views it as an exercise that deprived Puntland of its privilege for “ participation, consultation and representation … during the 2008-2009 Djibouti Peace Process which led to the formation of the current Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia”.
Other reasons for the discontinuation of Puntland-TFG cooperation include failure on the part of the TFG to implement “ the 2009 Galka’ayo Accord and Memorandum of Understanding on Security Cooperation (12 April 2010), signed between the TFG and Puntland; the marginalization of Puntland from the international community’s initiatives and funding intended for the reconstruction and development of Somalia as a whole, including past and ongoing training of Somali security forces in countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Djibouti.”
Puntland administration is against the extension of TFG mandate but is in favor of a new reconciliation conference to be held in Puntland. All major reconciliation conferences out of which transitional administrations had emerged had been held outside Somalia. It is not clear how Puntland can succeed in persuading the international community, Somalia’s political and traditional leaders to back and attend such a conference in Puntland although Puntland hosted the 18th regional Football Tournament last year.
Puntland-TFG relations deteriorated after the appointment of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as prime last year. Puntland complained that its share in ministerial portfolios was “looted”.
TFG Minister of Information, Abdikarim Hassan Jama , in an interview with the VOA Somali Service, defended Puntland initiative to have its new anti-piracy force trained by Saracen International , the same company training security staff for the TFG, a sign that Puntland and TFG were warming up to each other before the split.
Last week the TFG prime minister Mohamed Abdi Mohamed left Mogadishu to attend a UN Security Council Meeting. “ We will show that we have a coherent and transparent programme for the future and that despite the most difficult of circumstances, we can lay the foundations for a secure government,” prime minster Mohamed said in speech for the UN Security Council members. In his 1939-word speech, no mention was made of Puntland and Somaliland as examples of peaceful parts of Somalia where people have put in place institutions that helped many Somalis recover from the collapse of state in 1991 and how those two administrations constitute the solid foundation on which durable political institutions for Somalia can be built.
Since its inception in 2004 successive Transitional Federal Governments of Somalia have squandered legitimacy bestowed on them by the international community and local administrations such as Puntland. The TFG president Sharif Ahmed had an opportunity to lay out his vision of a federal Somalia. The question is: Have TFG myopia and Puntland impatience put the last nail on federalism project in Somalia? The political terrain in Somalia seems to be as desolate and forlorn as it was twenty years ago when the twenty-one year rule of military dictatorship was brought to an end by clan-based opposition groups with no plans and vision to change the political conditions for better.
Other reasons for the discontinuation of Puntland-TFG cooperation include failure on the part of the TFG to implement “ the 2009 Galka’ayo Accord and Memorandum of Understanding on Security Cooperation (12 April 2010), signed between the TFG and Puntland; the marginalization of Puntland from the international community’s initiatives and funding intended for the reconstruction and development of Somalia as a whole, including past and ongoing training of Somali security forces in countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Djibouti.”
Puntland administration is against the extension of TFG mandate but is in favor of a new reconciliation conference to be held in Puntland. All major reconciliation conferences out of which transitional administrations had emerged had been held outside Somalia. It is not clear how Puntland can succeed in persuading the international community, Somalia’s political and traditional leaders to back and attend such a conference in Puntland although Puntland hosted the 18th regional Football Tournament last year.
Puntland-TFG relations deteriorated after the appointment of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as prime last year. Puntland complained that its share in ministerial portfolios was “looted”.
TFG Minister of Information, Abdikarim Hassan Jama , in an interview with the VOA Somali Service, defended Puntland initiative to have its new anti-piracy force trained by Saracen International , the same company training security staff for the TFG, a sign that Puntland and TFG were warming up to each other before the split.
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Since its inception in 2004 successive Transitional Federal Governments of Somalia have squandered legitimacy bestowed on them by the international community and local administrations such as Puntland. The TFG president Sharif Ahmed had an opportunity to lay out his vision of a federal Somalia. The question is: Have TFG myopia and Puntland impatience put the last nail on federalism project in Somalia? The political terrain in Somalia seems to be as desolate and forlorn as it was twenty years ago when the twenty-one year rule of military dictatorship was brought to an end by clan-based opposition groups with no plans and vision to change the political conditions for better.
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Liban Ahmad is the editor of Somalia Research Report and a frequent contributor to terror free Somalia
Liban Ahmad is the editor of Somalia Research Report and a frequent contributor to terror free Somalia
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