Awdalnews Network

Ismail Mahumd Hurre (Buubaa) Somali Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation "There is no division within the Somali Transitional Federal Government, TFG, but there is a difference of opinion"

Abu Dhabi, 16 Sept. 2005--"It is unfortunate that the Somali media which also feeds the international media has to exaggerate a non-existing reality. There is no division within the Somali Transitional Federal Government, TFG, but there is a difference of opinion. The government is one, there is no division and no party has declared to have withdrawn from it but the dispute is whether to move the seat of the government to Mogadishu straightaway or through a corridor. The cabinet has made a decision that the government should make a stopover in Baidhoba and Jowahar before it relocates permanently to Mogadishu."

The statement was made by Ismail Mahmud Hurre (Buubaa), Somali Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation, during an interview with Bashir Goth, editor of the independent online news service Awdalnews Network in Abu Dhabi (on Thursday 15th Sept. 2005) where the Minister was on a working visit.

Ismail Buubaa said that some of the warlords in Mogadishu were saying that the government should go to Mogadishu and the rest of the government bodies were saying "Yes, it is the right thing that the government should go to Mogadishu but it is a right thing being used for the wrong purpose'. He asserted that the real intention of such individuals was to kill the government in Mogadishu.

"This is why it is necessary for the Somali media to correct itself and study the realities on the ground," he said, noting that many people have now awoken to the reality including the Parliament Speaker who was one of the advocates of the immediate government relocation to Mogadishu.

He noted that the Speaker had realized that no one was interested to remove the illegal and coercive checkpoints in the capital and that the real objective behind the call for the relocation to Mogadishu was a trick aimed at persuading the government to go to Mogadishu then to stifle and kill it.

Ismail Buubaa asserted that the Prime Minister would open his office and start his official duties in Mogadishu next week and that the Cabinet Ministers would follow him.

Answering a question on when he expected the dispute to be overcome, he said: "You are talking about a dispute between the President and the Parliament Speaker. But you have to know that the majority of the parliament is not with the Speaker. If there is any problem at all it must be within the parliament itself. What is needed, therefore, is the parliament to work to correct itself and the Speaker should abide by the majority rule."

He also noted that the whole issue should be discussed and solved within the government bodies and not by settling scores through the media. On his visit to the UAE, Ismail Buubaa said that the Arab leaders had decided in their Summit in Algeria to allocate US$26 million to the TFG and that his visit was to find out the share that every country was willing to contribute and what sectors of the country's rebuilding they were interested to participate.

He added that the TFG had laid down a strategy which includes the relocation of the government, the establishment of government federal system starting from district level to regional level, the resettlement and rehabilitation of the various militia forces, the creation of a police force and the reconstruction of the country with a Rapid Assistance Progam (RAP).

Somaliland:

Commenting on Somaliland's preparation for the parliamentary elections due to be held on September 29, Ismail Buubaa, who himself hails from Somaliland, said that holding an election would not endorse a secession, saying: " I will like the Somailand people to know that an election held in Hargeisa and Borama will not lead to a secession from the rest of Somalia just like the elections held in Aw Barre (Tafri Bar) or Goday didn't not lead to a secession of the Somali region in Ethiopia."

Lamenting what he thought was the illusion in which Somaliland people lived over the last 15 years, Ismail Buubaa said: "the people have been entertained over the last 15 years that recognition was coming. Therefore, when the elections are held and recognition doesn't come what will they tell the people. What other lie will they tell the people to convince them that recognition was still on the way. A wish that cannot be fulfilled is just a fantasy. You cannot govern people by fantasies; you have to govern them by reality. There is a difference between a wish or a belief and a tangible reality. The wish is ideological but politics is based on the art of the possible."

He asserted that it was ludicrous to entertain people with something that was not going to happen, noting that the President of Somaliland knew and that his cabinet ministers knew as well that there was no promise of recognition coming from any of the European countries, the Arab League or even Africa. Ismail Buubaa who was a Minister in the first Somaliland government that declared the region's secession from the rest of Somalia said: "I was a Minister in the first cabinet of Somaliland but in 1994 the first Somaliland President and I had told the people that secession was not in the interest of the Somaliland people," pointing out that they had reached that conclusion after studying the international law and the political reality in the Horn of Africa.

"It is true that Somaliland has special demands and interests. I am one of the founders of Somaliland, I belong to Somaliland and will remain a Somalilander, but I say that it is the interest of Somaliland that it should remain part and parcel of Somalia," he re-iterated.

Answering a question on whether his TFG government would study the possibility of holding a referendum in Somaliland to endorse the people's wish according to recognized international laws, Ismail Buubaa said: "First we have to know that there is no compulsion and no one can be forced to do something they don't like to do. And I believe if someone is being compelled here it is the people of Somaliland that are being compelled, because you are not allowed to discuss your view in public. If I go to Hargeisa and voice my opinion on this issue people will tell me that my opinion will cause a conflict and disintegration."

He wondered whether Somaliland was ready to create a democratic atmosphere where both the unionist person and the secessionist person could advocate their positions.

"If they are ready to create such a democratic atmosphere, I am ready the whole Somali nation will be ready to listen to their wishes," Ismail Buubaa said.

On whether the election of Abdillahi Yusuf, former leader of Puntland who had territorial dispute with Somaliland, as a President for Somalia had further hardened Somaliland's position of not holding any kinds of talks with the South, Ismail Buubaa denied that such was the case.

"I was one of the people that supported Abdillahi Yusuf's election. I knew him since 1980. Abdillahi Yusuf like any other leader elected by the people is obliged to abide by the people's consent. The issue is not one of a person it is an issue of a whole state with all its bodies, policies and legislature based on democracy and the rule of law. The decision is not in the hands of one person only and no one person can dictate the destiny of the nation by himself alone. Therefore, I don't see this as a problem at all," he said.

Voicing his concerns about the upcoming Somaliland elections, Ismail Buubaa urged the people to allow the elections to be held peacefully and to respect the system put in place by the election commission.

"When an elected parliament comes to the house, I hope they will face the truth and discuss the realities that are now being put aside in a democratic and free atmosphere," he said.

Answering a question on whether the TFG had any dialogue with Somaliland, he said there were no official talks but officials from both sides often met in international forums and exchanged views in an unofficial manner, noting that they always conclude that it is necessary for the TFG to speed up its efforts to establish a stable government and that Somaliland should be spared from any problems from the TFG side.

"Therefore, we make a full promise from our side that we will not take any action that may jeapardize the peace and stability of Somaliland. But we have fears that disturbances may flare up from inside Somaliland given the situation there. We have to be prepared for any such eventuality, because any problem that takes place in Somaliland will affect us also and the world will expect us to do something about it. Therefore, we don't like to see any problems in Somaliland at all no matter the source."

Editor's note: Somali speaking readers can find the full interview published in Somali.

Source: Awdal News Network, Sept 16, 2005