Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who recently appointed the envoy for Somalia-Somaliland talks, presented a plan to convince the international community to restart talks between the Somali Federal Government and Somaliland administration on the basis of South-North dialogue.
This will turn the talks into a jamboree between representatives from two clans. This initiative is motivated less by a desire to maintain the Union but a decision to cement a clan cohesion based on the mistaken belief that Mogadishu and Hargeysa can marginalise Puntland State of Somalia. Mogadishu, which is still a city that is still grappling with the upheavals and forced displacement of 1991, has once again chosen a path that could push Somalia to the brink of disintegration once again.
The appointment of an envoy on a politically sensitive issue such the talks between a government representing the sovereignty of Somalia and an entity waging a secession war in Northern Somalia ought to enjoy the consensus of political stakeholders.
At an event held in Mogadishu several nights ago, Abdikarim Guled, the new envoy, said that secession was resulted in by grievances that had culminated in the attempted coup of 1961 by a group of young northern officers in Hargeisa. This statement reflects the partiality of the new envoy.
The 33-member SSC committee is reportedly alarmed by the ambiguity surrounding the appointment of the new envoy who downplayed the shelling of Laascaanood by the secessionist forces of Somaliland administration. “Guled inadvertently justified the shelling of Laascaanood by making reference to the 1961 secessionist coup attempt in Hargeisa” said an adviser for the 33-member committee in Laascaanood.
The Puntland State Government rejected the appointment of the new envoy and vowed to discharge its constitutional duty to protect people of Laascaanood against aggression. To prevent a bloodbath and prolonged instability in Northern Somalia, the International Community is expected to urge Somaliland administration to withdraw its forces.
© Puntland Post, 2023
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