Djibouti (PP Report) —The Government of Djibouti is working to facilitate the resumption of talks between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Somaliland Administration. A thawing of relations between Hargeisa and Djibouti followed the election of Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi as President of the Somaliland Administration last year.
The Somaliland Administration expressed willingness to resume talks with Mogadishu under the auspices of Djibouti. President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti reportedly welcomed the interest of Somaliland Administration President in agreeing on modalities for the resumption talks with Mogadishu. President Guelleh insisted on clear guidelines on how any talks would resume and red lines that the secessionist administration should not cross.
In December 2023 Djibouti hosted a summit between the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Dr Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the former President of the Somaliland Administration, Muse Bihi Abdi. Less than two days after the signing of the agreement between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Somaliland Administration, President Bihi signed a maritime Memorandum of Understanding with Ethiopia to grant the landlocked country a naval base in Awdal. Bihi cited articles in the agreement with President Hassan on “economic development” as a basis for the maritime MoU, a statement that contradicted his speech in Addis Ababa in the presence of Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Bihi said that Ethiopia would grant the Somaliland Administration diplomatic recognition in exchange for a naval base.
Djibouti opposed the maritime MoU, and had to renew its Defence Cooperation Treaty with France. The MoU unsettled Djibouti, on whose ports Ethiopia heavily relies. Part of the illegal maritime MoU was to grant Ethiopia exclusive control over a sea area in Somalia where it could establish a merchant port between Djibouti Port and Berbera Port.
Djibouti factor in federal elections
Djibouti government behind-the-scenes campaigning decided the outcome of the 2022 presidential election in Somalia. President Guelleh controls the Dir block of votes. The Dir clan block of MPS was formed during the 2000 Somali Reconciliation Conference sponsored by Djibouti in Arta city. The Dir clan is one of five clans and is made up of Isaq, Samaron, Issa (from the north), Biyamal, and original Dir clan members in southern Somalia. The northern Dir MPs and Senators outnumber southern Dir MPs and Senators, a decision based on districts associated with northern Dir sub-clans outnumbering districts associated with southern Dir sub-clans. President Guelleh belongs to Issa sub-clan of Dir.
President Guelleh has proposed resumption of talks between Mogadishu and Hargeisa under new terms. President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi of the Somaliland Administration welcomed the talks in principle but, according to a diplomat familiar with the matter, “is wary of drawing attention to his predecessor’s political transgressions that led to the breakdown of talks and the Federal Government of Somalia designating secession as a national security threat.”
The Dir block of votes is decisive in federal presidential elections, but it is unclear how key stakeholders can agree on their participation if Somalia returns to indirect elections. Both Puntland State and Jubaland State leaders voiced concerns about the role of Northern Dir MPs and Senators in supporting the amendments to the Provisional Constitution of Somalia. “Jubaland President Ahmed M. Islam was on board with Villa Somalia on constitutional amendments until he fell out with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over harmonising election schedules of the Federal Government and Federal Member States in 2024,” said an analyst in Mogadishu.
In 2023, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni cited the non-involvement of the Somaliland Administration in the Federal Government as one of the reasons he had to cut ties with Mogadishu. “Puntland argues that the maritime MoU proves its point that the Somaliland Administration cannot have federal representation in the bicameral structure while rejecting the sovereignty of Somalia and resorting to measures that damage the territorial integrity of Somalia,” said a researcher with a think tank in Garowe.
Djibouti maintains a peacekeeping force (Hiil Walaal) in Somalia, and this week signed a cooperation agreement with the Federal Government of Somalia, less than a year before the tenure of the incumbent Federal Government of Somalia and the bicameral legislature ends.
© Puntland Post, 2025