By: Yusuf M Hasan
GAROWE (Somalilandsun) – As its first presidential election nears and prevalent incursions by Al-Shabaab, Puntland feeling exposed is cozying up to neighbours.
At a press conference in the Somalia administrative regional capital Garowe, the interior minister of Puntland Abdilahi Jama Ali said that the government of President Farole is pursuing Joint security efforts with its arch enemy of the Republic of Somaliland.
The bombastic sounding interior minister who professed to the trouncing of Farole’s opponents during forthcoming elections said “Plans are at an advanced stage of engaging Somaliland authorities in Security talks”
Sources indicate that this new found and precipitated good neigbourliness from the Puntland capital of Garowe which has become synonymous with armed incursions in territories under the jurisdiction of Hargeisa is as a result of ongoing threats from the Islamists Militant group Al-Shabaab.
A few hours prior to the ministers press briefing armed gunmen believed to be from Al-Shabaab attacked the Bossaso central prison in a bid to free 70 of their cahoots serving long sentences among them 18 on death row.
While this is not the first attack in Puntland by Al-Shabaab in the recent past it is the first one to make the Farole Administration in Garowe to cry wolf and request support from its professed arch enemy Somaliland whose government in Hargeisa blames for political unrest in some parts of its Eastern region of Sool.
Meanwhile the race to replace Farole as president which according to Ali Abdulle is “Though devoid of political organisations putting forward candidates is hooting up and not surprisingly after attracting all kinds of contestants.
In a piece titled ” Puntland Election: The Candidates” Abdulle says that though debate is so far gentle with no visible signs of polarized opinions candidates are coming from different backgrounds ranging from those of Islamist persuasion to the broadly secular and everything in-between.
All said and done it appears that the politically astute Abdirahman Farole who is currently squeezed between a tight wall through a combination of Al-Shabaab attacks and imminent challenge to his position will stop at nothing even the abhorrent cozying and kowtowing to Somaliland his , Farole’s, enemy #1.
Whichever side the dice falls between the fracas between al-Shabaab and the Puntland regional administration as well as between Farole and his mostly Islamist candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring contesting the right to occupy Farole’s palace in Garowe.
Queried on his perception of this development the editor of www.dhaymoolenews.com Mr Ahmed Ma’alin wondered why Farole does not utilize the services of the clan militias he funds and arms to create mayhem in Taleeh district of Sool region in the guise of creating a state dubbed Khatumo purportedly to be hived-off from areas Somaliland.
“While it is not a good omen to wish somebody ill, we at Somaliland should stay clear of anything to do with Farole especially at this hour when he is feeling the heat from diverse quarters” says the dhaymoole editor.
Adding that problems for Farole in Puntland translate to enhanced peace in Somaliland Mr Ma’alin hoped that the authorities in Hargeisa who in pursuit of peaceful co-existence should not be enticed into any cooperation with its embattled foe in Puntland but rather wait until after the elections that despite the bombastic verbosity of the interior minister in Garowe, forecasts indicate the sitting top honcho will lose even with his planned vote rigging at a massive scale.
