Puntland’s suspended local elections
Liban Ahmad
libahm@gmail.com
OPINION
The decision of Puntland administration to suspend local elections has been described as courageous . It is a courageous decision in the sense that Puntland leadership realised that the debate is not about democratisation but the process of conducting local elections in Puntland for the first time since the regional administration was formed in 1998. Main political associations of Puntland have boycotted local elections for fear of giving the ruling Horseed party an unfair advantage to consolidate its position before the extended term of President Abdirahman Farole comes to an end in January 2014.
The perception that the political playing field is not level has affected the process of preparing Puntland for local elections. Of all unanswered questions, the question– What impact will local elections have on the way Puntland president is elected?– is the most perplexing. President Farole’s Horseed is thought to have an unrivaled access to the public coffers, and in the absence of political financing regulations the view that his party is using the system to advance the party’s interests has been gaining ground. However, this is a credit for President Farole: for the first time in the short political history of Puntland the potential electorate is demanding a clear line between public money and party money.
President Farole has pulled Puntland from the brink of power struggle but political uncertainty persists. To address the democratisation challenges Puntland is facing President Farole should consult political leaders on helping Puntland transition from 60-plus MPs who select a president to a system whose legitimacy is based on district councils. This will not only be beneficial to Puntland political stability it will also reflect how serious Punland is about federalism.
As an act of confidence-building President Farole should , upon consultation with political leaders, create an office to which incumbent political leaders and cabinet members declare their assets before January 2014 election. Puntland does not have a public audit office, nor is statistics about public spending shared with the public or researchers. Political empowerment should go hand in hand with publicly available knowledge about how public money is spent. Only then will Puntland people take President Farole’s democratisation plans seriously.
Liban Ahmad
libahm@gmail.com
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