President Muse Bihi Abdi of Somaliland managed to chalk up a diplomatic achievement in his visit to Ethiopia this week.
Ethiopia accorded President Bihi diplomatic niceties for a head of state. In the VIP lounge of Addis Ababa Airport Somaliland and Ethiopian flags were placed side by side behind the visiting statesman and the welcoming host.
Displaying the flag of an entity claiming to have seceded from a sovereign African state in the headquarters of the African Union is not akin to violation of diplomatic protocols.
Supporters of the Federal Government of Somalia have not been up in arms about the diplomatic ground gained by Somaliland President in Addis Ababa. One Somali website consoled itself with the speculation that “Ethiopia failed to secure Somaliland an observer status in the African Union.”
Had Ethiopia allowed the head of Federal Member State to pose with state’s flag while on visit in Ethiopia, Federal Government supporters would unleash trolls on the federal member state.
If the muted response of Villa Somalia supporters gets mistaken for a sign of mellowing, one has to remember that Villa Somalia banks on Ethiopian forces within AMISOM to destabilise Jubaland and shove the controversial result of Galmudug elections down throats of Galmudug people.
Those short-term and unethical political goals predispose Villa Somalia to wear a mask of tolerance against a backdrop of diplomatic humiliation at the hands of Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
© Puntland Post, 2020
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