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TFP unilaterally extends its mandate
by 3 more years.
Implications and the way forward..
By Ali A.Jama
webmaster@somaliawatch.org
The
Federal Transitional Parliament (TFP) in a session held in Mogadisho on 3rd February has unilaterally
extended its mandate by 3 more years from August 2011. The speaker was
chairing the session and announced the final results as 435 members of
parliament present, 421 voted for the motion, 11 opposed and 3 abstained.
The original mandate of FTP when established in 2004 was for 5 years. The
mandate was extended for 2 more years in 2009 under the Djibouti Peace
Agreement.
The TFP
did not announce the extension agenda beforehand, nor were there any
public discussions with the Somali stakeholders. The decision surprised
many by the hush-hush manner it was managed and produced. The Americans,
in a press release by the Embassy in
Nairobi
Kenya,
were quick to denounce it as “unilateral and unrepresentative extension”,
and an “ill-conceived decision” that will “undermine the credibility of
the parliament and risks strengthening Al-Shabaab”.
The press release urged the TFP to reconsider the decision and “enter
immediately into serious discussions with” Somali Stakeholders.
The
Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr Mahiga issued press statement denouncing the
decision as “disappointing and taken in haste without the required level
of discussion and consultation”. Both UK and Italy have also denounced the TFP decision.
Puntland State which severed its ties and withdrawn
all its support for the TFG institutions from 16 Jan 2011, has issued strong objection to the extension plan, and stated that it will not be bound by any decision made by the TFP.
No statements have been issued by Somaliland, which normally considers TFG issues outside her domain
of interest.
The TFP
extension move seems to be prompted by the IGAD communiqué of 30 Jan
2011, which noted an “urgent need to extend the term of the current TFP
while the remaining political dispensation is handled by the people of
Somalia”.
The days ahead will show if this TFP action was what IGAD had in mind
when it recorded the note in its communique. The implications of this unilateral decision can only be loss of legitimacy and empowering of the armed oppositions.
The performance of the TFG
system in
Mogadishu
has been very poor. There has been lack of accountability at all levels.
In fact the speaker of the TFP has been publicly implicated in the theft
of 1 million
US$,
a bizarre story delivered to the TFP session of 30 Jan 2011, which incidentally
he was chairing. The speaker seems to have received these allegations in “business-as-usual” manner, making no attempt to defend himself. To our knowledge
there has not been legal action following these serious allegations.
It is time the
International Community realizes that the TFG structure it has created and is sustaining
in Mogadisho has failed to deliver any changes
to suffering masses in
Somalia.
We believe it is time to re-think the Somali issues and reinforce the bottom-up approach, which has been proven to work well in the country.
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