Guide til Somalias politiske jungle

Forfatter billede

År efter år med blodige konflikter og tørke gang på gang har gjort Somalia til en af verdens mest krakelerede og hjemsøgte nationer, hvor regeringen kun kontrollerer hovedstaden – men nu mødes verden om landet i London.

NAIROBI, 22 February 2012 (IRIN): In August, Somalia faces constitutional limbo (forfatningsmæssig dødvande) if the key provisions of a political “roadmap” agreed in September 2011, and one of the topics of this week’s conference in London, are not met.

What governance structures exist in Somalia?

The internationally recognized and funded administration in Somalia is the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), appointed by parliament in 2004 after three predecessors (forgængere) and more than a dozen major and often internationally sponsored conferences failed to establish a nationally effective government, something Somalia has lacked since the fall of Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.

The TFG’s legislative branch is the 550-seat Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP). It and the TFG are defined in the Transitional Federal Charter, a sort of proto-constitution, and have outlived their original mandate, which expired in 2011.

New governance structures are supposed to be in place by August 2012.

The TFG has little presence or control outside Mogadishu and is unelected, being a product of prolonged negotiations in Djibouti between armed groups, former warlords, international mediators and some elements of civil society. This weakens its legitimacy.

The TFG depends on foreign military and financial assistance, including 10.000 African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces in Mogadishu.

Large parts of southern and central Somalia are controlled either by loosely allied factions, militia and self-regional administrations or “micro-states” or by the hard-line Al-Shabab movement (islamister).

Kenyan and Ethiopian troops are attempting to push Al-Shabab out of key towns and economic strongholds in the south and centre.

Meanwhile, stable northwestern Somaliland has claimed independence since 1991 but plays no part in the TFG.

What is the roadmap?

Læs videre på http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94926