By Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud and Mohamed Abdilahi Dualeh
Introduction
Conflict Dynamics International most recently Briefing Paper on Somaliland and Somalia attempts to raise some of the controversial arguments about the political future of Somaliland and Somalia. Mostly the paper is searching for political accommodation and inclusive political arrangements that advocate towards imposing reunification of Somalia and Somaliland, despite, confronting historical evolutions and trajectory of the problems caused by Somaliland’s independence and its withdrawal of the Union in 1960. In the inception of the paper the authors showed more sympathy with Somalia and its current political trends of federalism. The options generated this paper seem to be unconvincing and unacceptable to the context of Somaliland which most actors in the world witnessed the sustainable peace and workable governance system.
Moreover, the paper has made some extensive conceptual explorations based on types of state formation that Somaliland and Somalia could entertain together in the future through current dialogue, but most narrative and cognizant views of this paper made clear tendency and favoritism with reviving once again a merger of Somaliland and Somalia, other than assessing critically the current position of the of Somaliland and political reality in which two countries pursued over the past three decades. The paper has also undermined the possibilities of achieving two state solution.
On the other hand, this Briefing Paper produced by Conflict Dynamics International in 2014, lacks much historical evidence about Somaliland and Somalia and eagerly misguides the cause and case of the Somaliland’s independence, self- determination and timely revoking the failed union in 1960 and this is the reason that this critique wants to expose some historical and empirical experiences about context of Somaliland and Somalia. Without deep analytical and proper diagnosing, the political and historical trends of Somaliland and Somalia cannot be evaluated through such instantaneous analysis presented by this Briefing Paper.
This Briefing Paper has also explored variety of options to override and justify its core aims. The main aim of the Briefing Paper appears to demonstrate how Somaliland could adopt one of the “six options” notably; all these options seemed to be intimidating the sovereignty and historical existence of Somaliland, the paper failed to discover the political reality of Somaliland and Somalia due to the shallow analysis and consistent campaigning against Somaliland’s history, independence and the will of the people, the paper treated to Somaliland as one of the entity of the federal states of Somalia for instance, many times the paper tried to make some interconnections between Somaliland and the semi- autonomous region of Puntalnd.
However, the so-called six options suggested by this Briefing Paper are imposing the way to single state solution other than two state solutions. Presumably, the authors of this paper presented political arrangements which are impracticable to pursue by people of Somaliland and the authors of this paper have also failed to understand the profound and fundamental underlining issues that Somaliland people are arguing in terms of their claim of independence based on historical and decisions of the majority of people of Somaliland.
