The TFG Speaker Shariif Hassan

When the warlords decided to derail the peace process they quickly found out that it is a daunting task to undo the progress made and therefore forged a collaboration with the speaker who for his unknown reasons decided to put the slowly moving wheels of national dialogue into a squeaking halt. When quislings are sought, quislings are abound and in this case the sharif showed up first. For the unsuspecting eye, this soft-spoken, smooth-talking, soothsaying, unassuming personality strikes you as “the enemy of none and the common friend of all.” But obviously there is more in him than meets the eye.

Time and again we are tuned to the cliché-ridden, tired rhetoric of the Speaker. In the realm of real politics, he offered nothing of substance to the Somali people who are only lulled further into numbness by his repeated extolments regarding a bogeyman called Ethiopia. He is in violation of not only the letter of the interim constitution but certainly its spirit as well. His statements that Ethiopia is preying on us rings false and hollow in light of the self-mutilation that has been going in Somalia for the last 15 years. It is churlish to blame our self-inflicting wounds on our neighbors. For the orphaned children and the widowed mothers it doesn' t make a shard of difference whether the perpetrator is black or brown, Somali or non-Somali. As a matter of fact Somalis are today safer in Addis Ababa than in our beloved Capital (Mogadishu). Ethiopia and Somalia are neighbors and historically traditional enemies. Given the character of the Ethiopian regime, we are not fated to be friends. Yet we need not be enemies. The real enemies are the warlords who by their own actions caused an ocean of despair in Somalia.

The speaker often repeats the mantra that Ethiopia is coming and the government has to relocate into the constitutional capital. He rehashes the relics of the past with no real platform, and is woefully out of step with today's reality in Somalia. His arguments reeks of no restraint or nuance and is prone to sound exceedingly sure of himself. His banter is hilarious if not confounding and even sometimes scary. When the president of Yemen used his good offices to breach the gap and reconcile the only two elected officials of the Somali government, the speaker first winked and noded and then decided otherwise. He asked the president to wring his hands and show remorse from his sins of asking foreign troops and relocating the capital. Maybe go a step further and flagellate himself. To everyone's surprise the president accepted all the condition put forward by the Speaker which is itself uncharacteristic of president Yusuf. People mellow out as they get older, and so I think is Mr. Yusuf.   However, instead of sitting with the President knee to knee and heart to heart to talk the issuse frankly and candidly, he decided to leave the country without even notifying his host and started going around, splitting up the parliament willy-nilly.

The Warlords

The Gedi administration, right from its controversial beginning, was squarely in the crosshairs of the warlords. Using cloak -and-dagger ploys, they left no stone unturned to undo all the progress made in Kenya. This franchise of a clueless Speaker and callous warlords are clear and present danger, and the foremost a threat to our nationhood and the stability of the country. Their selfish narrow inerest trumps everything else. They will kill and maim just to make few pennies from roadblocking. When all the sins are counted there must be a special place in hell reserved for these nasty piece of work. The mutability of their stand is only exceeded by the duplicity of their speeches.

Most of the carnage inflicted on us by these monsters may eventually be forgotten, but the postcards from the grave should stand the test of time. Amazingly, they are still part of the government. They should have been out on their ears longtime ago.

These warlords and their advocates are currently basking in a false glow of success in furthering their reputation of calling the shots in Somalia.   Using their tried-and-true tactics, exploiting every weakness of the government, and extracting the maximum mileage from the confusion of the international community, this lunatic fringe are currently enjoying a gift worthy of hell when the UN Security Council refused the request from IGAD states to lift the army embargo in Somalia.

In every occasion they play the Ethiopian card and play it with a vengeance because it is the only card left, with sympathy for their strident clan politics now at a low point. Rest assured, we are used to their hysteria and fortunately Somalis are now fully accustomed to the false public proclamations of the warlords. It is not difficult to square their deceitful tactics with the empty tone and content of their speeches.

The Pseudo-Intellectualism and the Clan-based websites

Since the inception of the Somali government it was at the receiving end of countless accusations from former politicians. These restless former politicians have a tendency to make their way to whatever watering hole they can find to quench their need for a political power. These political vaga bonds are using a callow speaker without any discernible sense of history and nationhood to further their political and personal interest. Politicians who can deliver a jarring piece of wisdom is always welcome, but these armchair politicians are unnecessarily raising hackles and are heaping rancorous attacks on the president and the prime minister. Resorting to elementary mathematics suffices to refute the fallacy that underlies their condemnation of the president and the prime minister. They are congenitally incapable of proposing solutions and are just adding fuel into a bruing fire. Their arguments are based on pure animus for Mr. Yusuf and Mr. Gedi and not on the full range of the readily accessible facts. I am astounded by the fact that these pseudo-intellectuals can make vitriolic speeches and fail the occasional need expected from highly esteemed intellectuals and politicians to step beyond emotional assertions and merely state the facts. Blinded by false views of the present political situation, these self-certified do-gooders worsen the problems they endeavor to ameliorate. Too often they twist the facts to fit their personal agenda.   They use the clan-based websites to relay their subjective drivel that spawns hatred and divisions. Never mind that Somali folks have less faith in a Somali news media with no valid reasons to be hate-filled and shrill.

The Problems of the President and the Prime Minister

To their admirers the president and the prime minister showed evidence of conviction, courage and authenticity, of rising above compromise, calculation and mere politics. However, their critics argue that commitment to hold undeviatingly to a line of action, regardless of circumstance or consequences, is foolish and dangerous. They argue that Mr. Yusuf's militaristic approach is controversial in Somalia 's topsy-turvy world.

"It is much safer to be feared than loved," wrote the philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli nearly 500 years ago.  But even Machiavelli believed that intimidation has its limits. Just a few sentences after the famous passage quoted above, he cautioned: "Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred."

Sometimes it may actually be safer to be loved than feared. Someone that took risks for peace might find unexpected rewards.

Largely through miscalculations and short-sightedness, the Somali government missed out on many opportunities to improve their image and articulate their policies. Moreover, unable or unwilling to acknowledge their weaknesses and shortcomings, the president and the prime minister bear a large share of the blame for the degree to which the movement to fail them metastasized. The litany of accusations against the government may be groundless, but even false perceptions can lead to awful consequences. When that much dirt is thrown, it doesn't take much to muddy the waters, especially when the target fails to defend itself. At the least, the president and the prime minister could have dampened speculations about Ethiopia and could have clearly stated their political program for the country. For almost a year we are still waiting the president and the prime minister to address the nation and put forward a clear political agenda for the nation.   It might seem ludicrous to address as large and intractable a problem as Somalia 's through speeches, but often a simple sermon can help chisel away at the biggest problems.

Conclusion

The reconciliation process that costed tens of millions of dollars, involved hundreds of people, will ultimately come to naught if the current situation prevails. The Somali people are so overwhelmed by the daily rituals of life that they can barely think for themselves. The warlords gave them the dilemma of one alternative; follow us or the enemy clan will take over. Embracing these faulty causes they created bona fide heroes from a dearth of villains. I am not expecting that the warlords will suddenly square their shoulders and straighten their backs. But I hope that the speaker retraces his steps and God willing return to the high road. If not, just beyond the horizon, there lurks a cloud that the winds will soon bring over us with the prospect of indeterminable losses of blood and treasure. And what a tragedy that will be.

Abdiweli M. Ali, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor of Economics
Department of Commerce 
College of Business Administration