SOMALILAND FORUM
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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT AND THE
PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND
1. We, the Somaliland Forum, have been following closely the political developments in our country, and we wish to address the following comments and recommendations to our Government, the Parliament, the registered political parties, other groups and the public at large.
Fundamental principles
2. We start by emphasising the Forum’s and the nation’s adherence to the fundamental principles of peace, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. The provisions of the Constitution must be respected by all, and we should all aim to ensure that all Somalilanders have a real voice in how they are governed. As a Forum we are impartial in party politics, and we have committed to advancing policies and practices which strengthen the above principles, and opposing any steps that may detract from these principles.
The move towards popular democracy
3.
We endorse fully the move from
representation through the Beelaha to direct elections through political
parties. Whatever criticisms that many may have about the way the Government
has managed so far the process of transition to popular democracy, a return to
a conference of the Beelaha, which will come up with binding proposals is
inappropriate and cannot be reconciled with the provisions of the current
Constitution. This does not mean, however, that conferences which discuss and
come up with recommendations to the legislative and the government cannot be
held by anyone. There is nothing in the Constitution which limits citizens’
rights to meet and discuss their future to meetings approved by the Government
or for that matter to meetings organised by registered political parties only.
We urge the Government not to use the public order laws to ban meetings
organised by organisations or groups which are not registered parties, but
which wish to discuss the way the elections are to be conducted and the best
ways of moving towards a popular democracy.
Campaigning in respect of the actual elections can be legitimately
reserved for the political parties, but the whole civil society must be allowed
to contribute to the discussions about the proposed laws and procedures for
elections. (Recommendation 1).
4. We urge the Government, the Parliament and the seven registered political parties to do everything in their power to bring into the fold of party politics all the groups and sections who have so far failed to participate in party politics. (Recommendation 2). Some of these groups say that they did not want to register because of the perceived defects in the way the political parties were formed. Rightly or wrongly, others saw the whole process as a ruse for the President and his Party to tilt the whole process to their advantage. We ask that, in the light of our recommendations below relating to the timing of the elections, the completion of transparent and fair processes in the elections and local governments laws, the issue of the registration of political parties be looked at again. It is extremely important for our democracy and peace that before the door is firmly shut all the groups and sections who have/had grievances about the proposed electoral and party systems be given another chance after the details of the whole process are finalised.
5. In turn, we urge all the groups and sections who have so far boycotted the political parties registration system to re-consider their position and to declare unequivocally their commitment to free and fair elections and to put formally their ideas for changes in the proposed electoral and local government laws to the Parliament and the Government. (Recommendation 3) It is in the interests of all Somalilanders that we get the transition process right and that we involve all the sections of our communities in the democratisation process.
6. We considered whether we should endorse the idea of a national conference (shir qarameed) as compared to a conference of the communities (shir beeled). Again, we cannot see how the terms of reference, the arrangements for, representation to and the nature of the resolutions of such a conference can be agreed upon within the next few months and therefore we cannot recommend the endorsement of such an idea. Indeed all our previous conferences were shir beeleed and we are not convinced that an effective shir-qarameed can be held at this stage. In any case, there is no constitutional provision for the holding of such a conference. We, therefore, see no justification for the holding of a shir–beeleed or a shir-qarameed (Recommendation 4)
The timing of the
elections
7. The President announced that the local elections will be held on 21 December 2001. It is now the beginning of November and the House of Representatives is still discussing the Bill. More importantly the whole structure of districts and regions has been thrown into turmoil because of the fact that a third of the current districts has not been approved by the House of Representatives, and the President has recently proposed a new test for determining how district status can be bestowed on settlements. Even the new registered parties have been given (by law) a period of 3 months from 25th September 2001 to complete their formation procedures. The detailed provisions of the Elections Bill including the allocation of parliamentary seats, local authority seats and the conduct of local and parliamentary elections have to be firstly published, discussed by the two Houses and passed. Similarly, the new Local Government Organisation Bill has to go through the same procedures. Also the procedures for the election of the President (which was not included in the current version of the Elections Bill) has to be published, debated and passed. We are also a small country with limited financial resources, and we should consider the practical and cost implications of elections. We therefore recommend that the timing of the elections be postponed to give sufficient time for the adoption of proper legislation and procedures. We propose that the local district and regional elections be held in October 2002, and the elections of the House of Representatives, those of the President/Vice-President, as well as that of the House of Elders (whose term of office will expire in early 2003), be held (may be on the same date) in February 2003. (Recommendation 5).
8. The terms of office of the President/Vice-President and the members of House of Representatives expire early next year (February and May, respectively). If the elections have to be postponed, then their terms of office must be extended (Recommendation 6). Under Article 42 of the Constitution, the 5-year term of office of the House of Representatives may be extended by a resolution of the House of Elders if the elections cannot be held because of dire circumstances. These are defined as war, internal instability, serious natural disasters etc. The 5-year term of office of the President may also be extended by the House of Elders under Article 83 of the Constitution if security considerations make it impossible for the presidential elections to be held. But neither of these articles can be invoked in our current circumstances where elections cannot be held simply because the appropriate laws, procedures and arrangements will not be in place prior to the expiry of the terms of office of the House and the President. We leave it to the Parliament to choose the best constitutional mechanism to effect this extension of the terms of office, but we would suggest one option might be for the two Houses to use the Amendment procedures under Article 126, and to add to Articles 42 and 88 a simple “one-off” amendment which inserts in these Articles the phrase that “except for the first direct elections of the House (or the President/vice-President) which shall be held as resolved by both Houses (by latest February 2003), the term of office (of the House/President) shall be five years etc…….”. The amendment can be approved by two thirds of the total membership of both Houses.
9. We are conscious that many Somalilanders may question the wisdom of extending the term of this Government on the basis that it has failed to prepare the country for free and democratic elections before the expiry of its term, and there is no guarantee that we will be any further ahead in this process late next year. To speed up the consultation on and completion of the electoral arrangements, including the completion of the formation of political parties and the equitable distribution of seats, as well as the education of the public on elections issues, party politics, registration of voters etc, during the period of extension of term of the President, we urge the President to appoint a cabinet of “national unity” during the “extension” period. (Recommendation 7). We do not consider it feasible under the Constitution for anyone else to be involved in the appointment of ministers, but we do urge the government to ensure that the timetable for the elections is strictly adhered to and that genuine consultation with the political parties and others on all aspects of Government should be the norm. We would not have recommended this if we were not proposing, at the same time, an extension of the term of office of the President and the Government and the House of Representatives. We think that this will help in ensuring that the Government’s proposals during this transition period are based on the wider interests of the nation and will dispel suspicions that the Government is only advancing the cause of its political party.
The Elections process
10. We expect the elections process to meet internationally acceptable standards, and we can do no better than to repeat the seven key concepts which are central to democratic tradition. These are universality, equality, fairness, secrecy, freedom, transparency and accountablity.
§ Universality is understood to secure access to an effective, impartial, and non-discriminatory registration procedure for both voters and candidates alike.
§ Equality requires that one's vote be given equivalent weight to that of the other voters in order to ensure equal representation. Under the majority voting system it requires that the size of the electorate among constituencies should not vary by more than approximately ten percent (10%). Under the proportional representation system, the size of the electorate may vary but the number of representatives for each district should be proportional to the size of the electorate. Voters should have equal and effective access to polling stations.
§ Fairness should ideally assure a level playing field for all participants in the election process, but at a minimum it should ensure the voter's exposure to basic information about all the contestants in the election and the fundamental issues that they represent.
§ Secrecy can only be assured if the voter casts the ballot alone, in the privacy of a secure voting booth, and in a manner that the marked ballot cannot be viewed before it is deposited in the ballot box.
§ Freedom should ensure a citizen's ability to cast his/her ballot free from intimidation and secure in the knowledge that his/her rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly will be upheld throughout the entire election process.
§ Transparency requires that the election be carried out according to due process of the law, and according to legal ground rules that are established in an inclusive and open manner. A transparent process limits the possibility for election fraud, and thus the vote count should be visible and verifiable from the level of the polling station, to any intermediate levels of the election administration, and finally to the national election authority.
§
Accountability
requires that those elected are duly installed in office and recognise their
accountability to the electorate. (Source: OSCE Elections handbook) (Recommendation 8)
11. We have as yet to see the revised Elections Bill. One of our members has already made some comments on the Bill last year. We would emphasise that any changes to the Bill must meet the above criteria, and, in particular, if the election time table is postponed, we would urge that:
§ A proper system of voter registration be set up. This will lessen abuse during the elections, and will also ensure that elections take place in all the districts of the country. There will be no “Wala Weyn” – as the total electorate in each district will be known.
§
The Elections Commission must not only
be independent, but must also be seen to be independent. We would urge that the
membership of the Commission be proposed by a Committee consisting of nominated
representatives of the Government and two Houses, and, as currently proposed,
confirmed by the House of Representatives. (Recommendation 9)
12. The Forum will provide further comments on the contents of the Elections Bill as soon as the new draft version is made public.
The districts and
constituencies
13. It is essential that the law on local government and the number and boundaries of districts are properly revised and passed by Parliament and the President before the allocation of local government and parliamentary seats is finalised. Many new districts, and arguably one region have been created by the Government without the approval of the House of Representatives. This situation needs to be regularised before any elections can take place. It is common practice in many countries that the delineation of districts and constituencies is undertaken by independent boundaries commissions. In a small country like ours, there is no reason why this job cannot be given to the independent Elections Commission, after it has been set up, but in any case, Parliament needs to set down objective criteria for the establishment of districts and regions. We would caution against “quick-fix” solutions which may simply store trouble for us in the future, but one short term solution might be to base the local elections next year on the districts that have existed in 1991 together with any others approved by the Parliament since then. Whatever option is adopted, all communities must be consulted thoroughly to avoid accusations of unfairness in the allocation of district, regional and parliamentary seats. (Recommendation 10).
14. In considering allocation of parliamentary and local seats, Parliament must (as it is reported to be doing) take note of the potential effect that it will have on the likely representation of the various communities. We do not consider such sensible consultation as perpetuating clanism, as, in the end, parliamentary and local the representation will be based on the outcome of the ballot box and not the result of the bargaining between the “beelos”. Nonetheless, the fairness of our electoral process and also the firmness our peace and democracy will be strengthened if all the communities feel that they have a good chance of seeing some of their members represented in national and local government. Whilst proportional representation is likely to lead to a wider representation than a “first-past-the –post” system of elections, a lot will depend on how far the lists prepared by each political party for elections are inclusive of the various sections of the community in each area. If the outcome of the first parliamentary elections show some communities or sections of the population (e.g women) are grossly under-represented, then new constitutional measures (such as selection of some or all of the members of the House of Elders, positive discriminations for women etc) may have to be considered before the next elections. In short, we support the Parliament’s efforts to look carefully at the proposed allocation of seats so as to ensure that all communities have a chance of being represented in the Government at both national and local levels. (Recommendation 11).
15. The
Forum shall make further comments once the proposals on local government law
and allocation of seats are known. The system we have chosen in “kick-starting”
our popular democracy is based on free and representative elections taking
place in ALL the districts of the country so that the correct level of support
for each registered political party is known, and the three parties with the
highest total votes can then have bestowed on the them the accolade of being
the three national political parties allowed under Article 9 of the
Constitution. Any proposal to hold
elections in only some of the districts will detract from this crucial test and
will be contrary to the provisions of the Political Parties Law. We urge, therefore,
that the first local government elections must be nation–wide and
comprehensive, otherwise the legitimacy of the winning top three parties will
always be questioned. (Recommendation
12)
The Registration of
Political Parties
16. The system of registration of political parties has already been set up, but we are deeply concerned about the fact that some sections of the community have so far decided to boycott it. It is essential that our march to popular democracy has the support of all the sections of our community, and whatever the pros and cons of the allegations made by those who boycotted the registration process are, a true democracy cannot be built without the full participation of all Somalilanders. If the recommendations we have made above are accepted, many of the issues which ostensibly concerned those who have so far stayed out of the registration process are likely to be addressed. We emphasise again that as we have chosen (wrongly in our view, with one member dissenting) a constitutional limit of three on political parties, the closure of the registration process last month will have the effect of leaving some of the communities out of the electoral process for the near future or at least until Article 9 of the Constitution (limit on the number of political parties) is revised. In the circumstances and in line with our above recommendations, we urge that Parliament amends the Political Parties Law so that the registration process is opened again for a period of two months in the beginning of next year as soon as the detailed and comprehensive proposals on the Elections and Local Government laws are published and formal consultations are held by the Government and the Parliament with all the registered political parties and other groups. (Recommendation 13).
17. There
have been a considerable number of criticisms of the way the government’s
political party was formed, the unlawful use of public funds, the involvement
of civil servants in political party work, the furthering of one party’s cause
in functions arranged by government officials and, recently the active
discouragement of the involvement of some political parties in public meetings.
The current Political Parties Law includes a clause which forbids the use of
public resources by political parties, and there is another clause which deals
with equitable access to the national media.
But there are no laid procedures in the Law for dealing with allegations
against the political parties and, no clear sanctions for breach of the limited
rules. Furthermore the Political Parties
Registration Committee’s functions come to an end six months after the first
nation-wide local elections. We
recommend that the Elections Bill should include a detailed comprehensive code
of practice for the conduct political parties, freedom of campaigning, equal
access to publicly arranged functions, the non-involvement of public officers
in political campaigning etc and that the Elections Commission be given
standing powers to investigate and take to court any party which breaks the
provisions of the code. (Recommendation
14)
Consultation
18.. We urge the government and the Parliament to consult widely when drafting and debating the laws relating to elections, political parties and local government. (Recommendation 15). For example, the parliamentary select committees considering the drafts bills can hold open hearings in which they can listen to the views of representatives of the registered political parties, other groups, intellectuals etc. We have one chance to get this process right and if we do not consult as widely as possible and involve all the sections of the community, we may end up with sections of the community feeling that they have no stake in our new democratic system. Indeed we would recommend that, in future, the Government should adopt the system of publishing details of proposed important laws, specially those concerning constitutional issues, in “green or white paper formats” (and in the media) for public consultation before the bills are passed on to Parliament. This will increase the involvement of the civil society in the legislation process.
The role of the Forum
19. We, as a Forum, will assist in the conduct of the elections in any way that we can. We are willing to hold discussions with all the major players in the country through a delegation (when appropriate). We can tender advice, raise funds for voter education, seek independent international observers with funding from democracy organisations, assist in the publicity (on equal terms) of the manifestos of the political parties through, for example, web publishing; and act as a watchdog.
Conclusion
20. We are
fully cognisant of the controversial nature of some of our recommendations, but
we give this advice because we are deeply committed to the advancement of
genuine popular democracy and the strengthening of peace and prosperity in our
country. We believe passionately in the
independence and onward progress of Somaliland.
20 November 2001
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE
CONTACT THE FOLLOWING SPOKESPERSONS OF THE FORUM:
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