Genuine Diplomatic Settlement is the Only Way Out of this Abyss

[Che -Guevara]

By Hiiraan Online Editorial Board

 

 

 

 

It sounds surreal, but the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) seems to be embracing the same dangerous track that recently led to the demise of the once-powerful Union of Islamic Courts: Unnecessary provocation.

 

 

 

Soon after they ascended to power and gained the support of the public, the UIC hastened to provoke the TFG and its supreme backer, the Ethiopian government. It was a fatal error in judgment that we forewarned web page the UIC to avoid.

 

 

 

Our call—and that of thousands of peace-loving Somalis, was turned down by the UIC.

 

 

 

Now, the TFG is on a fast track to provoke the Somali people with its blatant refusal to engage in a genuine political settlement with its real adversaries on a neutral ground. Instead, the TFG is turning to old tricks that hardly work: Imposing draconian measures, severely muzzling the media and worst of all, retaliating with vengeance.

 

 

 

Insofar as the harsh and punitive firepower used and/or approved by the TFG kill innocent people everyday, they also kill the prospects of hope in Somalia, which was dashed one after another for so long.

 

 

 

If nothing, the UIC proved that you don’t need to have foreign troops to pacify lawless Somalia. The TFG is blessed with far more resources than the UIC did; nonetheless, the country is plunging back into chaos.

 

 

 

The minimum responsibility of a government is to be able to protect its citizens. The TFG has so far been doing exactly the opposite. The TFG’s mantra for a “reconciliation conference among tribes inside Somalia,” is nothing short of a ploy aimed at meeting the international community’s demand for all-inclusive peace talks.

 

 

 

In that backdrop, the Hiiraan Online Editorial Board can only offer few timely recommendations, as we did with the UIC at their peak:

 

 

 

1. The TFG should open direct, unconditional peace talks with the UIC on a neutral ground. The UIC was at least talking to the TFG when the latter was holed up in Baidoa. The short term goal of the talks should focus on quelling the violence in Somalia, but a long term power-sharing deal is necessary for a viable TFG.

 

2. The TFG should ask Ethiopians to withdraw their forces precipitously. Their presence is the perfect ingredient for more violence.

 

3. Any peacekeeping mission should be one that’s not hostile to either party; a number of neutral countries have expressed interest in helping with the pacification, pending diplomatic settlement.

 

4. Together to two should quickly move to establish an independent elections committee that sets the ground work for elections in 2009. This is particularly important cognizant that the mandate of the TFG is expiring in two years.

 

 

 

If the TFG deviates from those somber recommendations, the reasonable upshot of that is going to be clearly self-incineration. The TFG’s success hinges largely on its willingness to talk to its opponents.