Somalia: Puntland state distances itself from Mogadishu
Somali soldiers on patrol in Puntland (photo illustration).
AFP PHOTO / Mohamed Abdiwahab
Text by: Léonard Vincent Follow
2 mins
The powerful government of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland announced Monday, January 9, in a statement, "
to act now as an independent government
".
He says he is waiting for a Federal Constitution for Somalia to be finally completed.
This announcement comes in a context of tensions between the Somali federal president elected last May, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, and the president of Puntland, Said Abdullahi Deni, defeated in the last presidential election.
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From the outset, the statement from the Puntland government insists on its attachment to Somalia.
Moreover, signing his three pages of justification under the title "Puntlandic Government of Somalia", he recalls his "
efforts for 18 years
" to "
lay the foundations for building the federal system
" and his "
financial and military
" support for the successive governments having sat in Mogadishu.
But it avails itself of the Constitution - still provisional - of Somalia and that of Puntland to affirm henceforth its "
right to act as an independent government
" as long as a fundamental law governing the whole of Somalia has not been not been completed and ratified by referendum.
A project opened in 2012 and never completed, although President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud recently announced that he wanted to revive it.
Somalia is still "
a state in transition
", recalls Matt Bryden, strategic adviser at the Sahan Research analysis center, based in Nairobi.
"
What Puntland has decided is based on law and is not surprising to anyone observing the political situation in Somalia
," he said.
The question is why now.
However, tensions have been growing in recent months between Mogadishu and Puntland, on the question of the distribution of political, judicial and security powers, on the exploitation of the ports of Bossasso and Berbera and natural resources, and the right to establish partnerships with foreign countries, in particular for the exploitation of oil.
The recent meetings between the two heads of state, according to those around them, would have gone badly.
Since last summer, the president of the government of Mogadishu has multiplied the decisions taken in the name of a Somali Federation still to be built, which the authorities of Garowe perceived as an interventionist temptation of the federal authorities.
After his defeat in the presidential election, the president of Puntland therefore seems to consider that he has not been "
enough compensated
", believes Matt Bryden.
He intends to "
restrain the centralizing temptation
" of his rival, the very popular Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, who has won military victories
over the Shebab jihadists
and enjoys an excellent reputation abroad.
“
He thus recalls, at the same time, that Puntland remains a pillar of the federal state and that Somalia still has serious problems to resolve.
»
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Somalia
Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud