By Farhia Ali Abdi

To:

Elders

Parliamentarians and other Politicians

Women’s groups,

Presidential candidates,

International Community

Dear Leaders

I am writing this letter to express my strong concern about the selection of recent parliamentarians in Garowe, Puntland and the lack of appropriate women representation. Women represent more than half of the population and are, therefore, entitled to half of the seats of parliament; this is what natural justice dictates. In addition, it is the tenets of the agreement reached in 2012 to allocate at least 30% of seats to women candidates.

On that basis, the people of Puntland were expecting the allocation of at least 20 members of the current parliament to women; therefore, it was surprising and at the same time disheartening to see the allocation of only two seats to women to the new parliament; this is ten times less than anticipated. The Somali women in general, and those in Puntland, in particular, are very disappointed with the Puntland elders for selecting an almost all male PMs, which does not reflect equal representation of Puntland women.

Parliament is the base of democratic governance and performs activities that are essential for the proper function of the government and the protection of the rights of all the citizens. It is where fairness and the respect of agreements have to be clearly evident. Therefore, the selection of the members of parliament (MP) is vital and must be carried out in an equitable manner. Unfortunately, the selection of the national and Puntland parliaments are in violation of those vital principles. Moreover, this selection was conducted behind closed doors, and that could adversely affect the fairness and transparency to the process. This kind of behavior indicates the obscure and arbitrary nature of our politics, when equal rights and representation could only be discussed behind closed doors. It’s time we considered other mechanisms to select our representatives (perhaps one person one vote) to avoid this unjust and unethical method.Further, the selection of PMs on a process that is blatantly biased against women sends the wrong message to all decent Somalis (men and women) who want to see an end to the politics of underrepresentation of women in government and other public institutions. The monopoly of men in public office is not only unjust but does not serve the nation. Somali women and particularly Punland women as well as the international community, especially at the moment in which the country needs to move forward. Puntland had only five women in its Parliamentary since its inception, and women have lost ground since then.

Women account for more than 50% of the Somali population. Although natural justice would dictate that they should form the same proportion in public institutions, they accepted the 30% representation that was allocated to them in 2012 by the political road map that signed by the Federal Government and regional administrations and the United Nation’s Political Office in Somalia. However, the clan elders who were responsible for the nomination of the members of parliament assigned only 15% of the MPs to women candidates. Although this was in clear violation of the agreed principles, the political leaders and the UN Secretary General’s representative only issued a muted protest at this travesty of justice.

Now, the Puntland elders, who were one of the biggest offenders in the underrepresentation of women in the national parliament, repeated their ignominious behavior in the Puntland parliament where they appointed only 2 women MPs out of the 66 seats. This only shows not only gross underrepresentation of women, but also socially skewed leaders arguably less effective an understanding and addressing the needs of women, something that should especially concern the society as a whole. The underrepresentation of women in parliament undervalues the contribution of 50% of the Somali population. The young generation of Somali women should not be paying the price of the cultural ghost of our past in regard to gender.

While it is true that women are not fairly represented in public institutions in many countries around the world, today, there is a genuine attempt to narrow that gap. In fact, one of the few countries in the world in which women are highly represented in public institutions is Rwanda, a country that has seen one of the worst genocide in the twentieth century. Other African countries have embarked on that process. We should not be left behind by the baseless cultural argument that deprives women of their rights and the vital contribution they could make to the advancement of Somalia. The era clan lineage and male dominance should be consigned to the dustbin of history, and a new era of equal partnership ushered in order to help us build the country and society we all strive to create.

For this reason, we (Somali women) and particularly Puntland women respectfully urge you to assure protection of women rights and representation in Somali politics and in Parliament, and not let personal bias to impair or obscure what is right and just. Finally, we urge all governments, local and national, to pay more than lip service to promoting diversity of equal rights in Somalia politics and government and stand up to the principle of equal rights and equal responsibilities.

Sincerely,

Farhia Ali Abdi
Email:guure@rogers.com