i ©SORADI 2012 Reflections and Lessons of Somaliland’s two Decades of sustained peace, State building and Democratization REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS OF SOMALILAND’S TWO DECADES OF SUSTAINED PEACE, STATEBUILDING AND DEMOCRATIZATION Presentations at the second annual SORADI conference held on 8-9November 2011. Somaliland Development Series No.2 HARGEISA, SOMALILAND JULY 2012 ii Reflections and Lessons of Somaliland’s two Decades of sustained peace, State building and Democratization iii Reflections and Lessons of Somaliland’s two Decades of sustained peace, State building and Democratization Table of Contents ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Public Perception of Local Councils in Somaliland ............................................................. 6 Chapter 2: Lessons From Somaliland’s 2010 Presidential Elections: What Democratic Spaces, What Opportunities? ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3: Opening the Political Space: A Boost for Somaliland Democratic Process ....................... 44 Chapter 4: Supporting Local Peace Building and Access to Justice: Traditional Leaders as Drivers for Change? ............................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 5: Indigenous Forms and External Interventions in a Somali Context ................................... 70 Chapter 6: Level of Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment in Somaliland ............................... 87 Chapter 7: The Saga of the Pursuit of Women’s Quota in Somaliland ................................................ 94 Chapter 8: The House of Elders: Where Modernity Meets Tradition ................................................ 105 Chapter 9: A Gap in the Somaliland Constitutional Process: Reforming the Guurti House .............. 118 Chapter 10: Somaliland’s Major Environmental Challenges ............................................................. 126 iv Reflections and Lessons of Somaliland’s two Decades of sustained peace, State building and Democratization ACRONYMS APD – Academy for Peace and Development FOPAG – Forum for Peace and Governance CEDAW – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women EMC – Election Monitoring Committee EIS – Electoral Institute of Southern Africa IEO – International Election Observation IGAD – Intergovernmental Authority for Development IRI – International Republican institute ISG – Independent Scholars Group JPLG – Joint Programme on local governance NEC- National Electoral Commission SNM – Somali National Movement SONSAF – Somaliland Non-State Actors Forum TFG – Transitional Federal Government SONYO – Somaliland National Youth Organization SORADI - Social Research and Development Institute SPU – NGO Safety Project UNCR – United Nations Security Council v INTRODUCTION Background Somaliland is now recognized as a stable and democratic state in the Horn of Africa. During the last twenty years, the Somaliland people where struggling to build a state and democratize it at the same time. Most of the state and key democratic institutions are now in place. However, most of these institutions are not performing to the expectation of the public. Building of democracy and consolidating its institutions are of course expected to be long and complex processes. Despite a decade long intense engagement in democratization in Somaliland and the expectation that its institutions have attained comfortable levels of maturity and consolidation, shortcomings still abound and sometimes develop into crisis situations due to some fundamental legal gaps that are related to basic constitutional principles. The most critical period was recognized as the last three years beginning from 2008 through 2010 when persistent political crisis almost stalled the development of Somaliland in all fronts. However, after the successful transfer of power from then ruling UDUB to Kulmiye party which won a comfortable victory in the 26 June, 2010 election, the general atmosphere for national development relaxed: All the sectors that were negatively impacted by the political confrontations between parties has changed for the better; the export of key products such as, livestock has improved, investment from the Diaspora started to follow again and the international partners became more confident to do business with an elected government. Does that mean all the problems which were causing the political turmoil in the last three years have been successfully addressed? The answer is definitely no. While some key issues are being addressed, a more daunting task is overcoming the perpetual lack of commitment to democratic accountability and rule of law of key state institutions. For instance, the national elected institutions are being invariably challenged by clan allegiances which sometimes shake the foundations of the fragile constitutional system. When the highest democratic institutions such as the Parliament or the Executive are swayed by clan influences, then in the eyes of public the state is discredited. What are the missing links in the check-and- balance formula of the democratic system? A Judiciary with “teeth’ is still conspicuous by its absence in the equation of higher governance in Somaliland. As for the legislative branch, its ability to deliver the necessary laws is seriously wanting. The terms of the two Houses of Parliament were extended, a three-year term for the House of Representatives and a four-year term for House of Elders in the hope that they could be able to furnish the necessary legal regime for the elections and political associations; and hopefully facilitate a constitutional reform dialogue to remove provisions that are becoming bottlenecks to the democratization process. Furthermore, many people argue that both Houses suffer from serious deficiency of democratic culture and values. The House of Guurti remains the only unelected representative institution in Somaliland. Its six year term has expired many times over and many members are sitting since the 1993 grand conference. 1 ©SORADI 2012 Reflections and Lessons of Somaliland’s two Decades of sustained peace, State building and Democratization Article #58 of the constitution provides that its members should be elected every six years, but does not stipulate how, and despite years of debate no consensus had been reached on whether it should remain clan nominated or be directly elected, like the House of Representatives. Critics believe that the Guurti unresolved status is a growing sore spot of the democratization process since they remain unelected, collude with any incumbent government, obstruct sensitive laws enacted by the elected legislative and are structured on clan lines without being accountable to the clan constituency. The Guurti House operates now in twilight zone, unelected accountable to nobody, but still wielding tremendous legislative powers as well as assumed traditional moral authority. Despite governance challenges, Somaliland recovery is going well. The economic development front has been fairly successful in the service sectors such as telecommunication, airlines and money transfer. However, a corporate culture is very slow to emerge and the dominant business culture is still remains family based and close-knit group ventures. None of these companies has yet to develop into a public company to tap into potentially lucrative market of public investments. Furthermore, the Somaliland business is not able to break through into the widely coveted potential of the Ethiopian market and as a result the anticipated regional economic integration is not happening fast enough. To deliberate on the above issues, to take stock of Somaliland recovery achievements and to discuss the way forward, the Social Research and Development Institute (SORADI) organized the annual Conference with the theme “Reflections on Somaliland Development: Lessons from two Decades of Sustained State Building, Local Institutional Development and Democratization and the Way Forward.” The Conference On the 8th of November, the social Research and development institute has launched its second annual conference on the reflections of Somaliland’s development for two decades. This conference was of significant importance for taking stock of Somaliland’s past development in order to contribute to crafting of an appropriate future vision. The Annual Conference brought together experts ( both international and local) and provided a forum for development practitioners, government officers, researchers and donors to discuss, debate and exchange on Lessons from Two Decades of Sustained State Building, Local Institutional Development and Democratization and the Way Forward. The conference invited political parties’ representatives, the National Electoral Commission, Local and International NGOs, Youth and women organization and Mayors. SORADI’s prime objective for this conference was to contribute to Somaliland’s development process, through active participation of the domestic and oversea experts, which it believes will definitely make significant contribution to the future development of Somaliland. The key outcomes and recommendations