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SOMALIA: PROPOSED PARALLEL SOMALI GOVERNMENT September 30, 2005
About two hundred religious men ended a three-day conference in Mogadishu today and announced their ambition to establish a new Islamic government in Somalia. What is so interesting about this conference is the timing. Most of these men were in Somalia all along and have been doing their day-today business happily until today, when the interim government with a president, prime minister and over 200 parliamentarians is trying to win the hearts and the minds of the people who have been without a national government since 1991.
These men never challenged Mogadishu warlords nor opposed the last interim government headed by president Abdiqasim Salad Hassan. Now, they see the new government as the only threat they ever faced since the fall of Somalia state in 1991 because the new president is well-known secular who fought with AlItihad Al Islami Organization of which some members of the new organization belong to. It all boils to religious beliefs and they don’t want to be ruled by their all-time enemy.
Mr. Abdulahi Yusuf who is very controversial and claims to have started Somalia’s civil war may not be the ideal man for the helm. However, establishing a new parallel government will only sink Somalia more into chaos. The country is failed by its people, especially men of all walks of life including religious leaders from whom we hear only when they sense a threat to their power and influence.
The only thing Somalia needs today is to secure the capital which has been the stumbling block for a long time. Mogadishu intellectuals must put all their efforts to reclaim the city from the armed bandits who kill, rape and loot in all corners of the city. Every politician and warlord in Mogadishu is talking about national matters while they turn a blind eye on the fact that poor people get killed at their doorsteps everyday. It is very hard to understand why national politics is far more important to many in Mogadishu when their city needs more attention.
Few men enter into Somalia’s hall of shame every year and last year’s inductees were Mr. Ali Gedi and Sharif Hassan, current prime minister and the speaker of the house respectively. Although most members of the new organization have been in the block for some time, their name, Somali Union and Salvation Council (SUSC) is new to the arena.