Somalilandsun: Somalia has once again indicated that it is not interested in the international efforts towards culminating its three decades political differences with Somaliland.
This came out after the second session of the Consultative Summit on relations between Somaliland and Somalia broke up as a result of continued requests to stop politicizing the negotiations were ignored by the Mogadishu team.
This was revealed by the Somaliland minister of livestock and Fisheries Saeed Sulub at a press briefing in Djibouti stating that “our discussions broke up late afternoon after failure to make any progress in the talks at the technical committee level” said minister Sulub
According to minister Sulub who is among Somaliland negotiators at the talks disagreements have been galore in the two days of technical committee discussions which the Hargeisa team persevered in the hopes of a semblance of agreement but the camel’s back was finally broken this afternoon.
“The issue of international donor funds created the major impasse after the Somalia team insisted that the Federal Government of Somalia shall be the sole recipient with it the FGS subsequently disbursing to Somaliland its share” said minister Sulub adding that the Hargeisa negotiators want both governments to jointly meet donors.
The Somaliland team further disclosed that the other impediment to successful negotiations is the complete lack of preparedness by their Somalia counterparts.
The members of the Somaliland technical committee include: Foreign Minister Yasin Mohamud Faraton, Trade Minister Mohamud Hasan Sajin, Presidential Envoy for Somaliland-Somalia talks Adna Adan Ismail, Minister of Livestock Said Sulub, Finance Minister and Somaliland’s Envoy to Djibouti, Abdifatah Said Ahmed.
While members of the Somalia technical committee include Minister of Interior and Federal Affairs, Abdi Mohamed Sabriye, Minister of Petroleum and mineral Resources Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, Deputy Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Hussein Abdi Ilmi, Chairman of the Independent Commission of Executive and Constitutional Review Mohamed Dahir Afrah, Attorney General Suleiman Mohamed Mohamud, MP Maryan Arif Qasim and the Senior Adviser and Envoy of the president of the Federal Republic of Somalia for Horn Africa, Balal Mohamed Osman.
Watch the Briefing by minister Saeed Sulub
The success of this phase of negotiations hosted by Djibouti shall go the way of past ones due to the obstinacy of Somalia despite the high level representation by major world bodies and governments.
The poignant issue here as in the past is the stance this time covert by Somalia that the talks pertain to negotiating reunion while Somaliland has it that discussions revolving around peaceful and politically apt divorce since Self-rule is irrevocable and non-negotiable.
The supremacy of these divergent views is a glaring impediment and aptly addressed by President Muse Bihi during the opening on the summit where he stated that “Somaliland remains committed to a peaceful co-existence with Somalia” adding that Somaliland insists that the dialogue should be a two state process with a substantive agenda that address the core issues.
On the past failures by Somalia to fulfill agreements reached the Somaliland president Said “Today, how can we proceed to this dialogue, if the previously signed agreements in London, Istanbul and Djibouti were not implemented yet? We cordially propose that a serious mediation mechanism and a guarantor should be in place for this new round dialogue” as he laid blame of stalled talks on the shoulders of Somalia’s president Farmajo.
If Somalia can disregard the agreement of not politicizing development and humanitarian support from donors within two days of such agreement and at the same summit that agreed so, one wonders how long term arrangements reached shall be implemented
While minister Sulub has indicated that the Djiboutian and other stakeholders are pursuing avenues of resumption the lack of agenda by Somalia and its obstinacy makes it difficult to envisage a successful conclusion.
Somalia – Somaliland history
Formerly a British protectorate, Somaliland merged with former Italian Somaliland in 1960 to create Somalia. But it reclaimed its sovereignty in 1991 as Somalia plunged into chaos after the fall of the Siad Barre regime.
Somaliland has been pushing for independence ever since. It has its own government based in the capital of Hargeisa, its own army and prints its own currency.
It is regarded by the international community as an autonomous region of Somalia and not a sovereign state. It is also considered much more stable than the rest of Somalia, which is plagued by clan disputes, corruption and a violent insurgency waged by the Al-Shabaab militant group.
