"the constitution gives every citizen the right to form a political party"
Dr. M A Gabose (right) and M H Elmi, during Thursday's press conference |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 7, 2007 (SL Times) – On Thursday, veteran politician Dr. Muhammad Abdi Gabose announced the formation of a new political party and said he had informed the ministry of internal affairs about the creation of his new political party. On Friday, the ministry of internal affairs issued a press statement in which it repudiated the claims of Dr Gabose and others who are involved with the new party, and said that the formation of a new party is a violation of the constitution of the country and there is no way it can allow it to happen. The statement of the ministry of internal affairs went to say that it will not allow a few individuals to break the laws of the land and create mischief in Somaliland’s political institutions, and that it will take firm action against those who take part in such things. The statement added, ‘according to the constitution of the country there can only be 3 political parties to enter local and presidential elections. Moreover, this so-called new party is illegal and will be disbanded by the ministry, and if those involved do not refrain from these illegal activities, they themselves will be brought before the law to face criminal prosecution by the state.’
Dr Gabose and the former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Muhammad Hashi Elmi, announced the inaugural of the Party for Peace and Development (SNPPD) during a press conference in Hargeysa. Dr Gabose was the former chairman of the defunct Sahan party which lost the 2002 local government election.
In his opening remarks, Dr Gabose said, ‘the new party is comprised of 55 members coming from a wide and divergent backgrounds and professions who were brought together by one unifying factor, which is, their earnest desire to develop the current stagnant state of Somaliland and its people.’
Dr Gabose explained that, “the new party will differ from the current political parties in many ways. First, the party leader/chairperson cannot run for the presidency. Second, the party will give women a greater role by setting aside a quota for women to take part in local government elections. We will prioritize the social issues affecting the nation, especially, health, employment, and education. We shall assist the diaspora in coming back and developing the country.”
Legality of new political parties
Dr Gabose stressed that the constitution gives every citizen the right to form a political party/organization.
He explained, “Articles 22 and 23 state that every Somaliland citizen has the right to participate in the country’s political arena, and is free to establish a political party, if they meet the registration criteria dictated by the law. These rights cannot be altered or changed by any government, parliament and court. The only way in which these articles can be changed or deleted from the constitution is through a referendum.”
Dr Gabose argued that by-law 14, passed by parliament for political parties, is the law, which initiated the formation and registration for KULMIYE, UDUB, ASAD and the others. “Has there been a new bylaw passed by parliament which replaced this one [14]? The answer is no. Article 21 of the constitution states that all those in authority, justice, parliament and the executive must abide by this bylaw (140)”, Dr Gabose asserted.
Dr. Gabose said that their party intends to take part in the up and coming national municipalities elections, scheduled to commence at end of the year.
Muhammad Hashi Elmi, the former Minister of Commerce and Industry who was sitting next to Dr. Gabose, commented on the role of the diaspora and Somaliland’s women. Mr. Elmi said, “the majority of our housing were built through the contributions of the diaspora, a great many of these are women. The same was true in our struggle to liberate Somaliland from Siyad Barre. Most of those who sacrificed their livelihoods were the diaspora. Those who contribute these days to society are the diaspora and women. They are the breadwinners in most households in the country and abroad. Our people in the diaspora contribute over $500 million a year to Somaliland. For these reasons, we believe there is a need to give the diaspora, and women in general, a larger say in running the country.”
Elmi, one of the founding members of the Somali national Movement and a long time political veteran of Somaliland politics, added, “we in this new party want to formulate a trade policy that lessens the country’s imports and increases its exports. We want to create employment for the many hundreds of thousands of students and those jobless in our urban centers by injecting cash in the manufacturing industry and small factories. We will open the cement factory in Berbera within 6 months if we are voted in power.”
Here are some questions and answers that took place in the press conference:
Q: ‘You were supposed to hold the press conference in Ambassador Hotel, as stated in your press invitation. What went wrong? Why have you changed the venue?’
A: You are right. We were supposed to hold the conference in Ambassador Hotel. We wanted this conference to be a large gathering, and we agreed to the number of people taking part with the owners and paid the money in advance. Unfortunately, at the last minute, we were telephoned this morning at 7 am and were informed by the hotel manager that he was visited by the chief of Somaliland police force, Mr. Muhammad Saqadi, who told him that the press conference is illegal and cannot be held in the hotel because the purpose of the press conference is to announce the formation of a political party. The police chief warned the hotel manager that it was up to him whether to allow the press conference to take place in the hotel or not, but there will be confrontations if it takes place because the government intends to stop the press conference. That is why we changed the venue of the press conference. We do not want confrontations with anybody, neither do we want to disturb the peace.
Q: ‘If the government rejects your application to register your party, what will you do?’
A: The thing is, this paper we have distributed to you (handout), contains the party’s constitution. Five months ago we presented it to the ministry of internal affairs. We said to the ministry that we consulted the most notable lawyers in the country, and we have been advised by them that the constitution and the bylaws relating to the formation and registration of political parties is still valid, the same as they were in 2002 local and presidential elections. We were given concrete legal advice by lawyers well versed in the constitution. We did this so to make sure that we were not contravening the law and not be labeled by our detractors as ‘disturbers of the law and peace’. We also took our organization’s constitution and the summaries written by our lawyers regarding the legal argument for new political parties to the General Attorney’s Office, the Supreme Court, the two houses of parliament and their house committees overseeing legal and judicial law concerns and to the National Election Commission. Neither the government nor these mentioned state institutions replied, instead they kept quiet for 6 months. This gave us a signal that it was permissible to form a new political party.
Q: ‘Once the hotel venue where you wanted to hold your press conference has been denied to you by the government, what chance is there for your new party being registered by the government?’
A: First, when you have a right for something, you should never lose sight of that right. There will be trials and opposition to you to get your rights. It will not be a smooth journey in getting your rights. The most important thing is to ask the question: “do you have the right or not?” If it turns out that you have the right, then all legal paths should be taken to achieve this right. In addition, we will educate the people about their rights and inform them of the illegality of the government’s actions. We will not change our cause. We will not be deterred by the government’s canceling of our press conference or the government’s propaganda. And we will not stop until we get the rights that the constitution has given us.
Source: Somaliland Times
http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2006/272/1.shtml
