Parliament
2004.
Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) was created, most Somalis
embraced it as a first step
in the right direction toward a beginning
of a long reconciliation
process for our nation and for our people.
One needs not to dwell on
how the TFG was created in
has already recorded who,
what, when, why and how the TFG was established.
TGF failed to take advantage
of the “short lived momentum†it had
enjoyed at its
inception. The introduction of
controversial policies
divided the Parliament. Soon
afterwards, the Parliament relocated in
two different cities.
reconciliation process.
A) In February, 2006, the Parliament Speaker
and the President -in
B) International recognition poured in to
support the existence of TFG. Arab league, AU and EU have
all expressed and provided political,
economic and diplomatic
support to the TFG and hailed the reconvening
of the parliament for the
first time in Somali soil as a success.
C) The TFG failed to deliver on its promises.
One of the possible
reasons for this failure is
lack of vision. A nation is as good as the
vision of its leadership.
Lack of a clear vision could lead to chaos
and confusion. One other
possible reason for this failure is the lack
of government priorities;
one cannot start building a home from the
roof. One must first lay
down the foundation. The missing foundation
was the reconciliation
process which was the only mandate the TFG
carried as its name
“transitional†had indicated. You cannot
transition from the first
phase without building a broad consensus and
harmony in order to move to
the second phase. The greatest TFG setback
occurred when the TFG failed
to gain the confidence of Somali people whom it claimed to represent.
streets of
surroundings areas after
confrontations with a new entity which became
known as Union of Islamic
courts (UIC). The UIC overpowered all the
warlords and immediately
restored long awaited law and order to all of
the territories under its
control in matter of days. This brought sigh
of relief with simultaneous
celebrations and greetings across
from Hargesa, to Bossos,
from Beletwein to Kismaio. The Somali
people
have exchanged
congratulatory notes in support for the UIC which they
have rightfully termed as
“unexpected miracle from Godâ€.
allowing foreign peace
keeping force to enter the country.
D) Then the TFG, to the surprise of many
Parliamentarians, made 180
degree turn and called the
UIC international terrorists designed to
destabilize not only
denies this accusation
stating that the government had it right the
first time when it referred
the UIC as “Public uprisingâ€.
population of
while conducting their daily
businesses without fear of rape, killing,
kidnapping and roadblocks.
These roadblocks were manned by roaming
gangs and ruthless militia
who exhorted money from the poor, the
powerless and ordinary
citizens.
reconciliation as its
guiding force and the means to re-establish trust
and respect among Somali
people.
between the TFG and UIC be
continued. The Federal Parliament should
serve as neutral catalyst to
pull the parties together. The
Parliament’s insistence to
move forward with the August 31 2006
meeting, led to the last
successful face-to-face peace negotiation
between TFG and UIC. The Parliament needs to continue to
facilitate
the negotiation between the
TFG and UIC.
Federal Parliament ought to
reconsider the presence of International
peacekeeping in
people need to know who
truly is behind the assignation attempt without
resorting to any
unsubstantiated rumors, agenda driven innuendos and
politically motivated finger
pointing.
mandated activities in
transparent manner. Every important issue
impacting our nation must
genuinely be debated and voted in a crystal clear manner. The interest of Somali
people should be our primary concern, everything else must be considered as
secondary. In order to safe guard already shaky public trust in this
institution; there must be concrete system of accountibity. The Federal
Parliament should investigate and expel from the chamber any member
who is caught violating the anti corruption laws.
neighbors. The International
Community must be careful not to repeat
the Congo Democratic
Republic (CDR) syndrome on Somali soil whereby
multiple neighbors fought
proxy wars for years in which thousands of Congolese citizens perished.
F) Members of Federal Parliament must take
their mandates very
seriously.
- The mandate to bring the
Somali people together through peaceful
dialogue and reconciliation
and not through the threat of gun.
Charter.
territorial integrity of
short term personal/tribal
gains.
this long and tragic civil
war with its heads high, with its dignity
and pride still intact, with
peace within itself and with its neighbors.
Member of Transitional
Federal Somali Parliament of
E-mail:
Asha_Somali_Parliament@yahoo.com
