By Ahmed Ugaas
When people are afflicted by civil war, poverty, and terrorism, trust of the rule of law and governmental institutions dwindles; groups get organized to defeat each other and politics becomes a zero-sum game. As unfortunate as that may sound, there are ways the government can get the public trust back. For instance, consensus building and appointing capable people in key positions.
The attorney general is the prism through which the strength of justice system is judged, and it requires a strong academic background, a good judgement and a solid moral compass. Unfortunately, Farmajo’s current attorney general, Ahmed Ali Dahir, is neither a legal scholar nor a politically conscientious person and that is a travesty of justice and attack to all sound moral fortitude. Similarly, the regime’s vehement support for the election of Mahamed Mursal to the speaker of the parliament was unconstitutional and against consensus building.
Having said that, self-reflection is in order before one opposes the current government. We are in, no doubt, a critical time for our political discourse and need to put personal interests aside for the common good. Positive and constructive individuals should lead the opposition so that a dialogue can start, and an atmosphere of constructive criticism can flourish.
The objective of an opposition, in moral aspect, is not to replace a regime but to perfect it through dialogue and constructive criticism. This government has three more years to go, and no one should think derailing it before it runs its course, on the other hand, the president should stop focusing on the 2020 campaign and should start working on the mandated tasks.
Not having well defined foreign policy based on our national interest had impaired development and created conflicts within the executive branch in the past. But now, this has taken another turn and threw the regional states into the mix. In the Constitution, there is an article which stipulates the need of regional states’ consultation for any consequential and critical decision. As a result, the regional states claimed the FGS sided with Qatar, in the current Gulf conflict, without consulting with them and that had dire consequences in their economy. Consequently, they started signing their own agreements with UAE and that is what ignited the current debacle between FGS and the regional states.
It is the responsibility of the FGS to complete the Constitution and elucidate to all parties. A completed and well understood Constitution will strength our institutions and it will also ameliorate the intragovernmental conflicts. Sadly, intentions of the FGS regarding this matter is not clear, because they have been reluctant to facilitate the completion of the Constitution. A fully understood and completed Constitution will ideally separate the three branches of government and will limit the powers of the executive branch and that might be the reason the government is reluctant to push it forward.
This much is clear now: unless the government changes its current course, we will be in stalemate and security, the only scale the international community measures progress in Somalia, will deteriorate; regional states will break loose and mind their own business; Shabab will become brazen and attack more, and finally the national unity will be in jeopardy.
The mess we are in can only be solved by a willing and capable leader and that seems to be tall order now.
Ahmed Ugaas
Email: [email protected]
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