Tough choices for Puntland, Somaliland and Sool leaders
       Posted to the web on Sep 19 Nearly two years have passed since Somaliland government forces captured Laas Caanood, the administrative capital of Sool region and brought to an end of Puntland government‘s five year rule. Somaliland and Puntland administrations claim Sool on two different grounds: in the case of Somaliland, Sool was part of the former British Somaliland and “is now a part of Somaliland”. Puntland’s case rests on shared genealogy:  Central government collapsed in 1991 and clans returned to traditional faith in shared cultural institutions based on territory and customary laws to elect a council of elders, a president and a vice president.  Since 2002 Somaliland has had two successive presidents— Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal  and Dahir Riyale Kahin —from the same party UDUB; Puntland has had four presidents  (Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed  and  Mohamed Abdi Hashi, Mohamud Muse Hersi  (aka Adde Muse ) and Abdirahman Mohamud Farole).

President Farole’s predecessors used policies that took the support of Sool politicians and traditional leaders for granted. When fierce political struggle between the former Puntland Vice president, Hassan Dahir Afqudhac  and former Puntland interior minister  Ahmed Abdi Habsade started in 2006 , the Puntland leadership did not seek ways to diffuse  the tension.  Only traditional leaders from Buuhoodle tried to raise the matter with the former Puntland president. The outcome did not soothe the fears of Habsade—that  former Puntland president and vice president were out to sack him. The sacking of Habsade in 2007 from a cabinet post had led  his  supporters to throw their weight behind Somaliland administration, making Punltand political  franchise lose its lustre gradually : unpaid salaries, run-away inflation, and piracy conspired to undermine Adde Muse’s administration.  

Somaliland opposition parties did not address the question of sharing power equitably now that Sool region’s administrative capital in under Somaliland. Habsade has clarified his position on Somaliland political impasse and voter registration. Like the ruling Udub party, he is against the use of voter registration system for Somaliland elections on the ground that registration of voters did not take place in all Harti  populated areas in Somaliland. Its use would disadvantage Harti constituencies electorally, Habsade said.  

How does Punltand see the Sool territorial dispute with Somaliland? In a speech marking the eleventh anniversary of Puntland, president Farole vowed to retake Laas Caanood. The president did not specify what strategies his administration will use to make Laas Caanood into a Puntland city, nor did he address the role of Sool traditional leaders in resolving political problems that caused many Sool people to regard Punltand as a partial administration.

Punltand president has inherited political and social problems. Pinning the blame on his predecessors will not solve problems but will surely create new problems. It is not clear if the group of Sool traditional and political leaders who will attend an All-Dhulbahante conference in Nairobi in October have found an answer to the major question: Will Sool remain a part of Puntland? How will they address the political realities ranging from divided loyalties; divided traditional leaders and politicians who change their loyalties whenever the political administrations they support fail to accommodate their demands?  Will they be a third political force that competes for representation privileges either in Puntland or Somaliland or the Transitional Federal Government? Or will they aim to be a group that will work towards making Sool political and traditional leaders accountable to the people they represent politically and traditionally?  Some analysts believe that the Nairobi conference may add another layer of complexity to the Sool politics but the organisers cannot ignore the two opposing administrations that draw support from different Sool constituencies. Puntland, Somaliland and Sool leaders have tough choices to make to prevent the three regions that enjoy relative peace from slipping into maelstrom of anarchy.

Liban Ahmad,
Email: Libahm@gmail.com

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