THT-The second Waddani party General Assembly conference, with the theme of National cohesion and fair distribution of national resources has been held today in Hargeisa.
During the event, Abdiqadir Jirde was appointed the convention chair, has announced a fifteen candidates for key party leadership positions to be contested tomorrow, among Hon. Hersi Ali Haji Hassan as the Chairman bid and Mr. Khadar H. Abdi as the Secretary General.
Chairman of the Waddani Opposition Party and Presidential candidate H.E. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi (Erro), in a long speech at the opening of the convention addressed the country’s current situation, including inflation, foreign policy, elections and Waddani Party plans for the next presidential elections.
1,200 delegates from all regions of the country and all party offices around the world attended the conference, H.E. Abdirahman, the party’s chairman, who has announced earlier that he will run for the party’s chairmanship again, withdrew his candidacy, to set an example, a time where Eng Faisal, still at the helm of UCID leader, since two decades, and current incumbent president H.E. Bihi is the KULMIYE party leader since 20217.
excerpts of H.E. Abdirahman’s speech, were as follows
Foreign Policy:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thirty years later, Somaliland’s foreign policy needs to be reviewed and re-evaluated.
What has been achieved, what are the challenges we have encountered? What we found a solution, what we haven’t found a solution, where are we going from where we standing today?
Let me give you one example. When I was the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007, a delegation I was leading, included, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Bashe M Farah, the Chairpersons of the eight House Committees and the leaders of the three National Parties (UCID Chairman Eng Faisal, UDUB Secretary General Late Bulale and KULMIYE’s Third Chairman Late Fagadhe) went on a working trip to Ethiopia and Uganda.
During our stay in Ethiopia, we met the Speaker of Parliament, Parliamentary Committees, the President of Ethiopia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Vice President of the African Union.
While in Kampala we met with the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chairpersons of the Ugandan Parliamentary Committees. Ms. Amina Hersi, one of Uganda’s richest businesswomen and a Somalilander, attended with us a meeting with the Ugandan’s Foreign Minister and played a key role arranging in that meeting.
Our delegation requested the Ugandan Foreign Minister to grant Somaliland an Observer status at the Commonwealth Conference in Kampala, which was being opened by the British monarchs. The Minister approved the request, which was attended by the three National Parties of the Republic of Somaliland at the time, including Chairman Faisal Ali Hussein.
At the same time, I, Bashe, Faisal, Fagadhe, Ambassador Jawahir Sh Madar and her husband went on a working visit to Rwanda and met with the Speaker of Parliament, the Speaker of the Senate and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs was the one who proposed to the African Union Conference to be submitted the 2005 report written by the fact-finding mission to Somaliland.
It seemed to me at the time that the recognition of the Republic of Somaliland could bear fruit. To the Somaliland delegation I led in 2007, after returning from the trip, I wrote a 16-page report and proposal to President Riyale on how to make the recognition of Somaliland a reality.
Recommendations included the establishment of a policy and a Recognition Commission and the creation of a separate operating budget, which is united on the issue of the Republic of Somaliland and the parties have a prominent role and recommendation.
The recommendations of the leaders we met, who were all in good spirits for Somaliland, included recommendations for those countries to establish and strengthen relations with Somaliland, such as Nigeria and Algeria, which indicated that Somaliland was openly opposed to Egypt and Sudan and recommended that Somaliland should engage in their acquisition.
Two KULMIYE governments have succeeded President Riyale, but haven’t formed any tangible foreign policy, where opposition parties to support the Somaliland government
Somaliland needs the current government to come up with a foreign policy that is supported by the national parties and a central pillar of Somaliland’s quest for recognition that does not exist today.
During the tenure of the Kulmiye government led by President Muse Bihi, friendly relations with Somaliland’s neighboring countries deteriorated and could be a sign that Somaliland was not invited to the inauguration ceremony of the Ethiopian Prime Minister. Relations with Somaliland’s Friends of the British Parliament have deteriorated.
In Somaliland’s quest for recognition, we must invest more time and effort and establish closer ties with the African Union (AU) member states.
Recognition of Somaliland is essential to forging relationship the UN Security Council’s veto power nations.
At the moment there are governments that are close friends of Somaliland, it would be good for our government to improve its relations with the China government which is making great strides in the region (Djibouti and Ethiopia). Our recognition does not add much to an unrecognized state like Taiwan, we always have to improve our engagements with major countries.
It is also a fact that all major powers are interested in Somaliland as it is strategically located. The beginning of this plan is required by the Somaliland government.
5. Somaliland and Somalia dialogue;
Somaliland’s neighbors, the African Union and our international partners have advised Somaliland to engage in dialogue with Somalia, and as a Waddani Party we see dialogue as one of the keys to recognition, and therefore, we will continue to successfully engage in Somaliland-Somalia dialogue.
6. International Community:
The international community knows that the Republic of Somaliland is a reality, they know that Somaliland is one of the African countries that gained their independence on 26 June 1960, they know that the people of Somaliland voted in a referendum to regain their independence and sovereignty, they know that Somaliland is a stable and peaceful country, they know that Somaliland is a country that has implemented a multi-party system and democracy.
Somaliland is ready to contribute to the Horn of Africa, as it is more knowledgeable than other countries. Somaliland stands ready to assist with the international community on peace issues, as having experience.
I call on both the international community and the United Nations to consider the aspirations of the Somaliland people for self-determination.
7. Trade, Livelihoods & Costs of Life.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
It is a fact today that every household in Somaliland is experiencing an increase in basic necessities of life, if inflation continues to rise or unrestricted there can be many dangers that will mainly affect our society, such as the division of the population into classes and the creation of social hierarchy which will ultimately have a negative impact on national security.
We therefore urge the Government to formulate a clear policy on this issue and take immediate action to address the skyrocketing cost of living, bearing in mind that the root causes of the Arab Spring were high cost of living and unemployment.
The two-day conference is expected to conclude tomorrow, with the election of the party’s new leadership and more than 300 central committee members.
