Hargeysa May 28,2015 (Haatuf) – Prior to the agreement concluded last night at the presidential palace between the government and  the political parties to hold Somaliland presidential and parliamentary elections within December 2016,the country has been gripped by a political crisis over the House of Elder’s May 11 controversial decision to extend the term of incumbent government for 22 months,a situation that would have allowed president Sillanyo to remain in power for the next 2 years(He was elected on June 26,2010 for a 5_year term that expires on July 27 this year). President Sillanyo’s closet aides and members of his family were pleased by the Guurti’s decision but the move was rejected by the opposition parties. Read below excerpts from articles published by Haatuf during 2 weeks of intensive coverage of the issue:-

Talks between government and opposition will fail unless the presidency takes part

The talks that started between the government and the opposition parties at Ambassador Hotel will most likely fail for a simple reason: the government’s representatives in the talks do not have real authority to make any serious decisions. This is not exactly a secret. On the contrary, it is a commonly known fact that real authority resides in the presidential family and their in-laws and not in Kulmiye Party or government ministers. Therefore, for the talks to have any chance of success, the presidential family who have the ultimate power to speak on the part of the government will have to participate in the talks, otherwise, it will be just talking for the sake of talking, a waste of time and effort. Moving the talks to the presidency is also necessitated by the fact that the bone of contention is the two-year extension of the government term that was granted to it by the Upper House. It is worth noting that Kulmiye’s team in the talks is the same team that reneged on the deal that was reached by the two other parties regarding the Election Commission’s decision to hold the election within a year (June 1 2016). It is also the same team that reneged on the deal it reached with UCID’s Faysal Ali Warabe. Speaking about Faysal Ali Warabe, he, too, remains a pivotal figure and much will ride on the position he takes in the talks. If he insists that the extension should be only for one year,  it might create enough pressure on the government that forces it to accept this offer and abandon its misguided efforts to get a two-year extension.

Somaliland presidency prevents international  efforts to mediate term extension impasse

Reports reaching Haatuf Newspaper say that Somaliland presidency has prevented an international  delegation from arriving in the country. The delegation from the donor community wanted to mediate the problem over the extension of the government’s term in office which was issued by the Upper House and which was rejected by the opposition parties as well as a wide section of Somalilanders. The government claimed that they do not need international mediation and that the government and the opposition parties will reach an understanding themselves.  The presidency’s negative attitude stand however was not limited to foreign mediation. The president exhibited the same negative attitude arguing that the Upper House acted within the bounds of the constitution when it extended his government’s term for two years. By rebuffing the international community and at the same time pulling the rug from under the scheduled talks with the opposition, the government has deepened the country’s political crisis.

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