As Elder Warabe finally stamps his authority as chief Somaliland Peacemaker and reconciliation mediation expert
By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – The factional infighting within the Somaliland parliament has come to an end and all parties involved publicly resolved to respect and adhere to Guurti recommendations.
The dispute in the House of Representatives, Somaliland’s lower chamber of parliament pitting factions allied to Speaker Abdirahman Irro and his two deputies ended after successful mediation by Guurti Elders.
The Guurti elders recommendations that were unanimously accepted by the warring factions entail
1. Lowering the votes needed to disposed the house speaker from 55 to 42 thence same as his two deputies.
2. Concurrence that during the remaining tenure of the house no motion pertaining to the speaker’s removal or replacement shall ever be brought forward.
3. The House of Representatives to enter recess of normal duration as from today.
Acrimonies within the house of representatives ensued after members from the political divided within the august house voted overwhelmingly in favour of amending by-laws that saw the AYES needed to unseat the two deputy speakers reduced from 55 to 42 while that of removing the speaker remained as before that is 55.
The second issue of acrimony though not addressed by the Guurti recommendations relates to changes through the same amendment to house protocols as pertains to the high table that originally had the speaker conduct house business flanked left and right by his two deputies but changed thus the speaker perched alone and the two underlings relegated to sit among ordinary members.
Two months after the by-laws amendments a faction allied to deputy speaker and in extension the ruling Kulmiye party brought the motion to decrease the speaker’s removal votes thence similar to deputies thence fracases that saw police enter parliament for the first time in the country’s history not to mention fist fights among the honourable members.
The Guurti reconciliation recommendations whose architect was elder Abdi Warabe was presented to a full and attentive session of the lower house by the deputy chair of Guurti, Parliament’s upper chamber, Elder Saeed Jama Ali.
Irro who was first to gracefully accept the Guurti verdict was also part of the delegation led by elder Warabe and including Guurti mediators and deputy speaker Bashe visited the presidency to stamp the arrangement with president Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo.
It is worth mentioning that Elder Warabe who at over 120 years of age takes the lion’s share of credit for bringing the political temperatures down since he is the one who took the onerous initiative of intervening and proposing a seven days house recess to facilitate mediation.
The request was accepted by the house where the two then warring factions appointed a 14 standoff negotiation committee composed of seven members each which after four days failed to reach consensus on any point thence throwing the mantle back to the elder Warabe led Guurti mediators.
Though reckoned with as most astute peacemaker in the country the cooling of political tensions in parliament and to a larger extent the entire republic of Somaliland is the finally stamp of Elder Abdi Warabe as the undisputed national reconciliatory and peacemaker king
With the dispute out of the way citizens assume that after their imposed recess the legislators will return to house business clearheaded.
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