By Mohamed Jama

As Abraham Lincoln denoted eons ago “Democracy is a Government of the people, for the people and by the people”. Today in Puntland this old adage rings true as thousands of the Puntland electorate in the districts of Ufayn, Eyl and Qardho came out to the polling stations at their constituencies to cast their vote in electing local legislators in their respective district councils and the political associations of their choice in tandem. Today is a day like no other, it marks the culmination of a much awaited for moment and sets a critical milestone and a step forward in the democratic roadmap of the Puntland State of Somalia. This is an achievement that belongs to the people of Puntland and the Somali people at large and for that reason we should all be proud of it and replicate the same wherever possible.

To set the record straight a bit of context is in order. From the advent of the state formation in 1998, Puntland State of Somalia had a vision of transforming its governance system from a clan-based polity to democratic governance apparatus through universal suffrage that will enable citizens to exercise their inalienable rights to choose their leaders in a fair and free manner. Albeit pledges made by the political elite who sought public office and the promises made by the leaders of the successive Puntland Governments, yet the old clan-based system of selecting legislators who in turn select leaders in the executive branch of the Government persisted.

To this day, it has been the norm in Puntland that representatives at both local and state level came to office by clan-based power sharing formula i.e selecting district councilors who in turn vote for the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor at the local level whilst at state level parliamentarians were selected by traditional titled leaders locally known as Isimo who handpick MPs on the basis of a rotational power-sharing formula for the sub-clans from one lineage of clan-family to fill the 66-member parliamentary seats at the Puntland Parliament who in turn elect the Speaker of Parliament and two Deputy Speakers first and President and Vice President afterwards. The successive governments in Puntland did not satisfy the aspirations of their populace to democratize the governance systems and decentralize the political, administrative and fiscal resources and powers closer to the localities, as they lacked the political will and partly the requisite wherewithal to engender decentralized grassroots democracy.

In the few instances where efforts were made to establish some semblance of democratic governance at the grassroots, governments lacked the audacity and commitment to avail sufficient political space for democratization to gain traction.

The current political system which has been in place for about 23 years fails to instill a sense of ownership and confidence to the public and politicians come to office without the will of the people they purport to represent. That reality has changed with the ascendancy of the current Puntland Administration of H.E Said Abdulahi Deni. Mr. Deni and his administration spearheaded a reform agenda which included among other things Democratic Governance which started with the formation of the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) within the first seven months of being in power. This move heralded a ray of hope for the millions of Somalis in Puntland who viewed this as a renewed commitment and momentum to resume the democratization efforts in Puntland and more importantly enabled the Puntland institutions to lay the foundations for a governance apparatus that allows citizens elect their local and state legislators in a multi-party political system. This new impetus of seemingly revamping the state polity was deemed to serve as the bedrock for pioneering an enabling environment that puts in place all the ingredients required to deliver some semblance of substantive civilian government.

In light of the above, much of the credit of today’s fruitful results is accorded to the TPEC top brass who have wasted no time in putting in place the necessary institutional arrangements for the realization of democratic aspirations and will of the people to materialize by swiftly devising strategic orientation and electoral roadmap that will guide TPEC and its stakeholders every step of the way towards rendering the blueprints into fruition. In this connection, it is worth noting that TPEC managed to attain this accomplishment with minimal wherewithal at their disposal and the outcome of today’s pilot elections have laid bare to a testament that much is achievable.

Why Pilot?

The pilot elections have raised some questions on some quarters as many people in Puntland were unsure of where this piloting might lead. Yet, it has been apparent to many that it is cumbersome venture to do elections wholesomely at once due to a confluence of factors including unavailability of funding earmarked for elections and to some extent some technical issues that necessitated the process to be one that studies and experiments all potential possibilities. To sum it up, the chief reason piloting first is that it provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the gains so far registered and based on the lessons learned, improvements can be made in the remainder of the district council elections with the benefit of hindsight.

Conversely, this success lends credence to the integrity, reliability and legitimacy of the electoral process which imparts confidence in a myriad of stakeholders who might have had initially their reservations from how transparent and credible the process can be. Now that the pilot elections held in all the fifty-three polling stations of the three districts were conducted in a transparent, free and fair manner with observers foreign and domestic witnessing it firsthand the nitty-gritty of the electoral process and no an iota of irregularities reported, the Puntland people have every reason to rejoice and revel in the outcome, while our international partners will be reassured of the integrity of the electoral process which gives them all the reasons to incentivize the rest of the process by redoubling their efforts in supporting TPEC and the Puntland State Reform Agenda.

Citizens in Puntland and elsewhere in Somalia witnessed that with the right ingredients in place – including but not limited to political stability, leadership commitment, political will, institutional legal and regulatory frameworks and more importantly the credibility of individuals entrusted with the management of the electoral process there is a possibility to reach the promised land and attain democratic priorities and benchmarks with ease.

Despite all the euphoria, today’s election does not warrant a victory for any of the eight political associations vying to transition to political parties, it rather paves the way for more similar exercises in 47 other districts that will have to go through the same process to guarantee the three association garnering the highest number of votes be recognized as the official political parties Puntland will have for the decade to come. It might really seem a tall order, but achievable.

What can be gleaned from Puntland’s pilot elections?

It is obvious that Puntland embarked upon a transition to a multi-party political system in which citizens from all walks of life and stripes of community including internally displaced persons (IDPs) mainly from the southern parts of Somalia can vote and be voted for in the Puntland district council elections which transcends beyond clan lines which has been the malaise that ails the Somali political dispensation since time immemorial, but this new dawn presages a notion of creating a conducive environment for cohesion and harmony among all Somalis. On top of that, the icing on the cake was the process per se was devoid of vote buying, vote rigging voter manipulation and all other forms of irregularities and conducted peacefully in all the fifty-three polling stations at the three districts.

Regardless of which political association one subscribes to or what political ideology one believes in, we are at a turning point in this defining moment which merits our collective standing ovation. There can be some pitfalls and shortcomings here and there, but this is a learning moment for Puntland and beyond in which much can be gleaned from. As an integral part of the ingredients of good governance, universal suffrage is inter alia a precursor to self-rule, citizens’ engagement and social accountability. It is against this backdrop that other fledgling states in Somalia can learn from the Puntland experience and replicate the same in the state-building processes of their own governments.

Conclusion

This moment deserves our collective commendation for all went well in today’s long anticipated pilot council elections, but mark my words, we are not yet out of the woods and much remains to be done as there will be some hiccups and impediments along the way, therefore we need to pull our socks up and roll our sleeves back and strategize means and ways of curbing any challenges that might lay ahead us. In a nutshell, now is not the time to rest on our laurels as we cannot afford a relapse of this process in which we have invested so much at this critical juncture. It requires the concerted efforts of the government, civil society and local communities to leave no stone unturned in trying to turn the corner.

If all goes well and the remainder of the upcoming council elections in 47 districts of Puntland are held in manner quite similar to or even far much better than today’s election in the three districts of Uffayn, Eyl and Qardho, this will mark a legacy attributable to the current administration for providing an enabling environment and the civic space for universal suffrage to materialize.

I finally commend all those who have devoted time, resources and other means of support in making this dream a reality, their efforts and commitment will not go unnoticed and will be etched on a golden page in the historic annals of Puntland.

Mohamed Jama
Governance and Public Policy Expert
Email:Jama.moh@gmail.com