Puntland Local Government Elections Can Result in Exemplary Decentralisation Somalia

[Deeq A.]

A grandmother is being helped to go to a voter registration centre in Boosaaso.

Garowe (Editorial) — Voter registration has started earlier in Bosaaso to kickstart the second phase of local government elections in Puntland. The first phase, conducted in 2021 in Qardho, Eyl and Ufayn, demonstrated that Puntland is keen on adopting a more transparent political system than the current system in which 60-plus MPs elect an all-powerful president and his ceremonial vice president.

The new forum for political change unveiled in Puntland last week had expressed concerns about the process through which the second phase of local elections will be expedited.  The Government of Puntland State must listen to the concerns of the forum members and seek a realistic common ground with stakeholders. Their input is well-meaning. They are not advocating a return to the old system; they want to have a role in the process that was put in place before the formation of the  forum.

President Dent aims to leave a lasting legacy to empower citizens through decentralisation.

The charge that President Said Abdullahi Deni micromanages the electoral process does not hold water. Detractors should keep in mind that voters will decide political associations that will attain the status of a political party. One of the glaring achievements of the first phase of local government elections is that an internally displaced person won a councillor seat in one district.

Puntland is a bastion of co-existence; it is an administration formed mainly by IDPs who migrated to the land of their forefathers 32 years ago penniless. An eagerly awaited, key outcome of local government elections is decentralisation — the process of devolving power to districts and villages.  Decentralisation will enable locals to elect MPs and oversee their budgets currently allocated and distributed at the centre, the seat of the Puntland State government. For a federal members state whose political foundations are premised on a federal system as a bulwark against pre-1991 centralisation that did not survive the collapse of the state shortly after the overthrow of the military regime in 1991, setting a good governance example should be uppermost in the minds of all political stakeholders.

A potential voter being photographed for a biometric-based registration card in Puntland.

An Independent audit regime and judiciary are corner-stones of decentralisation. Neither exists in Puntland partly because of the 24-year-old political system. Phasing out this system before it turns 25 will be a major achievement that will inspire other federal member states. The Puntland State government ought to lay out the practical outcomes of the local government elections and make it clear that a transformative political change will empower citizens whose rights to protect their common resources and entitlements are weakened by the clan-based political system.

Maxamed Cabdiraxmaan Dhabancad, the Puntland State Finance Minister, said that the government would ensure that the last year of its tenure will see the transition to a transparent political system. It is a vision worthy of support and encouragement.

© Puntland Post, 2023

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