Mogadishu (PPM) — One of the most inequitable political outcomes of the historic 2000 Reconciliation Confrence sponsored by Djibouti is the relegation of 20% of Somalis to a minority status, if one takes the 4.5 power-sharing system into account.
The rationale for assigning lesser political rights to a group of Somali clans who suffered disproportionately during the civil war for not taking up arms or claiming a part of Somalia as their clan’s fiefdom bizarrely remains out of discussion.
The silence over their plight — dispossession, being excluded from genuine political participation in a Federal Member State politics, and fewer life chances in their homeland — makes a mockery of the argument that Somalia has been making a progress towards good governance.
There has never been an acknowledgement on the part of the four self-styled ‘major’ Somali clans that their compatriots ( otherwise known as Others) have suffered lower political status and more human rights violations for a long time. Numerically Fifth Clans, a variant name, constitute 20% of the bicameral house and have, like other four clans, 20% chance to give one of their politicians the odds to win the Somali presidency. Yet, no an aspiring politician has put on his/her agenda the programme to secure full political representation for Fifth Clans.
The International Community urges consensus among Somali stakeholders. By stakeholders Somalia’s International Partners mean the four major clans and associated Federal Member States. Is it due to a poor knowledge of Somali political realities when the International Community downplays political marginalisation of Somalis who have wrongly been given the label ‘minorities’?
To break the deadlock over electoral models it is an opportune moment to include representatives from Fifth Clans in Somali electoral consultations. Their input will sensitise representatives from the Four Clans to the pain of political invisibility visited upon their compatriots. The focus on gender has got to be complemented by a commitment to genuine political representation for Fifth Clans. Discussing political marginalisation of Somalia’s peace-loving clans should no longer remain political taboo.
© Puntland Post Monthly, 2020
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