Opposition political parties called for early elections and impeachment to President Bihi accusing him of constitutional violations and high treason.
The two leaders of Waddani and UCID, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Irro’ and Faisal Ali Waraabe, respectively, censured the President on what they called ‘abject failure to lead’ and a ‘betrayal’ of public trust.
Waddani Chairman, Irro, listed some of the grave violations which the President stood accused of – in their view.
“President Bihi has started on a dictatorial path which precipitated the early demise of many a bygone leader and general. He has repudiated all democratic principles which this nation has so painstakingly nurtured to blossom. The President prefers petty squabbling to state leadership. The President subverted the vibrant nationalism and unity of this country rendering all governance and hope for a better future in turmoil. He is guilty of a number of constitutional violations,” he said.
The Chairman accused the President of not sharing details of his meeting with Somalia President Farmajo in Addis Ababa, an alleged response to a proposed Abiy-Farmajo visit to Hargeisa and what he and a high-level Ethiopian delegation which arrived and left talked about.
“Form what one can surmise of contradicting statements by President Bihi, the Guurti Chairman and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, there is a lot that is not revealed of what transpired. Much is being kept under wraps. We believe the president has misplaced public trust, is culpable of treachery,” he said.
Chairman Irro added that taking all of the above and more into consideration, the two parties have come to the conclusion that an early presidential election was the only way out of a dilemma of the president’s creation, as they put it.
“To salvage what is left of the reputation and integrity of the Republic of Somaliland, we call for an early presidential election to be conducted within the current year. We, also, call for parliamentary and municipal elections within 2020,” the Chairman reading from written and signed list concluded.
The Chairman, however, stopped short of explaining how three major elections could be conducted in a single year at a time the opposition itself stands accused of persistent procrastination moves designed to thwart scheduled elections. Letting NEC do its mandated task is a first step that the opposition appears not to concur.
Leaders of the two opposition parties, according to their statement just concluded an intensive consultation at UCID’s party premises, Saturday.
Faisal Ali, UCID leader, was less diplomatic, more caustic, more vitriolic, more aggressive in attitude and terms used.
“Musa Bihi will not be a president but would revert to his ‘Musa’ personality if he does not respect the constitution. He has failed to lead. We will pull him down if he does not respect us and the nation,” he stated in blistering words.
Faisal went to mimick an interpretation of areas the parties fault in the president.
“I will cut down their (parties) rent funds! Will cut their rent! We will cut down the salary he takes with which he has turned into a traitor, culpable of high treason. The funds he is misusing are realized of public taxation. It is not by his father,” he shouted out.
Faisal added that they have given President Bihi until 10 March to correct anomalies at the expiry of which their followers will stop paying taxes and that they will start motions to drive him out of office.
The parties’ reaction is a response to the President’s announcement, Tuesday, during his State of the Union yearly message to the nation, that he will start a process, including requisite amendments, which will bring the constitutional term of the three national parties forward by two years.
President Bihi accused two opposition parties of directionless opposition, and, especially, in heated opposition to both the past and present roster of National Electoral Commission members.
“They have opposed the last commission, wasting two good years senselessly. When it was replaced by new commissioners who went through all legal processes, they, again, started calling for its disbandment unreasonably,” the President said.
President Bihi went to state that the country could no longer afford a never-ending political rigmarole which brought the nation’s democratic roadmap to its knees.
To resolve the issue, the President stated, then, decided to cut the term of the political parties, including his – Kulmiye – short, and pave the way for political associations to decide the next three national parties.
President Bihi said an inconclusive political tug-of-war was a luxury, a pastime Somaliland could not afford – anymore.
A number of prominent members representing both opposition parties received the President’s proposal favourably concurring that, as things stood at the moment, opening political associations was a logical, justifiable step forward. This, observers point out, may have baulked opposition leaders, partly explaining the panicky, abrasive language of the parties.
A voluntary mediation committee proposed in December last year that in order to male parliamentary elections happen in 2020, it was necessary to bring back the old, technically qualified commission back to office and let go of the new one which, at the time, had already the Waddani member missing. All parties, including the ruling party, and international partners welcomed the proposed face-safe.
But, then, President Bihi himself failed to concretely follow up on his undertaking to honour the proposed way out, deferring pressure on new commissioners to resign to ‘their clans’ – a phenomenon that was new to NEC-related equations. As a result, UCID, too, pulled out its member leaving NEC to two members appointed by the Guurti and three by the President, all of latter at the centre of the opposition’s critique of the electoral body’s dependability and composition.
By conveniently shelving the two precious years the opposition wasted by trying to dislodge the old commission ahead of their mandated time, and, again, starting all over on the new one, readily accepting the very old one which they so vilified for more than twenty-four months, stripped Waddani and UCID parties of what remained of their credibility as viable, sage opposition parties.
It is not yet clear how the new political deck of cards dealt will be played out.
It is doubtful whether international partners will want to jump into the fray. Not yet, at least, preferring to wait out for a while more, as observers predict.
