Postby Hiiraan boy » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:27 pm
MOGADISHU, Somalia Sep 5 (Garowe Online) - Lawmakers in Somalia's interim parliament spoke publicly for the first time about ' Maakhir State,' a new regional administration etched between Somaliland and Puntland sub-states in northern Somalia.
MP Asha Abdalla, who represents Sanaag region in the Somali parliament, said she supports the newly-created Maakhir self-government, which falls under the authority of the federal government in Mogadishu.
"I very much support Maakhir [State] and the idea that you build your house first," MP Abdalla told SBS Somali-language program Wednesday.
The new region's rulers claim that they have massive local support in Sanaag and part of Bari, two major regions along the Somaliland-Puntland divide.
MP Abdalla said the people of the region became tired of leaders in both Somaliland and Puntland. She argued that these two well-known regional entities had vied for control of Sanaag in recent years, but that neither Somaliland nor Puntland brought development to the locals.
Instead, Abdalla said these regions halted efforts by international aid agencies to bring humanitarian assistance to Sanaag and its residents.
The Somali legislator, who spoke from Mogadishu, said the elders and politicians of Sanaag region placed much effort towards the creation of Puntland, but that Puntland leaders failed miserably in their duties.
Abdalla said Sanaag elders supported the establishment of Puntland, in 1998, in an attempt to "block" Somaliland's bid for independence.
Leaders in the breakaway Somaliland republic and those in self-governing Puntland do not recognize a 'Maakhir State' next door, nor do they recognize each other's claims of ownership to Sanaag region.
Somali leaders in Mogadishu have kept their golden silence on political affairs unfolding in northern Somalia, especially in light of the insurgency that has gripped the capital since January.