Waftiga Afhayeenka Baarlamaanka DFKMG::
Hon. Sharif Hassan Sh. Aden. (Afhayeenka)
Hon. Mohamud Jama Sifir
Hon. Mohamed Hassan Daryeel (xubin)
Hon. Zakaria Mohamud Haji Abdi
Hon. Abdirahaman Aden Ibbi
Hon. Asha Ahmed Abdalah
Hon. Ahmed Abdirahman
Hon. Mustafa A. Dhuhulow
Mr. Mohamed Shaiek (speaker PA)
Khudbadii uu Afhayeenku ka
jeediyey New York hoos ka akhri (Af ingiriisi)
Transitional Federal Parliament of Somali Republic
The
Statement of the TFP Speaker
Hon.
Sharif Hassan Sh. Aden
Addressed
in the Second world conference of Speakers of Parliament in
New York UN on 8th of September 2005.
Mr.
Chairman, Distinguished Speakers, ladies and gentlemen.
First of all I would like
to send message of coldness on behalf of Somali People to
the government and the people of United State of America
regarding Katherine Hurricane. We deeply feel the crisis as
we face similar crisis when the central government organs
collapsed in the beginning of 1991.
Secondly, the delegation of
Somalia is gratified and honored to participate in the
Second world conference of Speakers of Parliaments. For the
people of Somalia, our presence among the distinguished
Assembly of Speakers of Parliaments at the United Nations
symbolizes Somalia’s return to the community of nations.
The convening of this major
Parliamentary Summit is timely, coming as it does five years
after the United Nations Millennium Assembly. It gives the
speakers of Parliaments a chance to articulate the will of
the people our respective parliaments represent. We are
happy to listen to the views of other delegations and
participate in the deliberations of he Parliamentary Summit
on the challenges of the 21st century.
We welcome the Draft
Declaration presented to us and commend the preparatory
committee for the clarity and brevity of the Draft.
We fully share the
assertions in the report that describe the core
institutional and political functions of parliaments, that
is:
§ Parliament
embodies democracy.
§ Parliament is the
central institution through which the will of the people is
expressed, laws are passed and government is held to
account.
Our delegation believes a
stronger role for parliaments in bridging the democracy gap
in international relations will in large part depend on the
capacity of national parliaments to perform their
functions.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished
Speakers, ladies and gentlemen.
We wish to share with you
current development in Somalia and highlight some of the
challenges our Parliament and country face.
On 22nd August 2004, 275
representatives were sworn as members of a transitional
federal parliament. The inauguration ceremony effectively
concluded a two-year Somalia National Reconciliation
Conference. The inauguration of the Parliament was the first
step in the reconstitution of the Somali State. The
challenge to the parliament was to perform its immediate
constitutional responsibility.
§ On 15 September
2004, the TFP elected a speaker and two deputy speakers.
§ On 10th of October
2004, the TFP elected the President.
§ On January 13,
2005, parliament confirmed the council of Ministers, the
executive organ of the state.
In completing these tasks,
the Parliament performed its immediate constitutional
responsibilities as envisioned in a Transitional Federal
Charter.
The Charter adopted as the
outcome of the first phase of a National Reconciliation
Conference provided a constitutional framework for
post-conflict political transition. The principle challenge
to Somalia as in other post-conflict states is the
completion of the national reconciliation through democratic
process. This is more in Somalia that other countries.
Unlike other post-conflict states, the basic political
institutions in Somalia have totally collapsed, leading to
the fragmentation of the country into territorial entities.
In 13 prior efforts,
delegates at peace conferences focused on agreeing on a
framework for forming a government. All of these efforts
failed. They failed not because the participations lacked
the will. Some failed because the conference was not broadly
represented. Other failed because the solutions that were
proposed convinced neither the Somali people nor the
international community.
We have gained from these
previous setbacks and applied the lessons learned. Unlike
previous attempts, the Conference did not focus on forming a
government. Instead, the conference and the implementation
of its outcome were envisioned as a process of national
reconciliation. The conference was structured as successive
phase. Each of the phase dealt with a distinct aspect of the
reconciliation process in order to progressively build the
foundation for a durable solution.
The 14th Somali conference
adopted a Transitional Federal Charter. The Charter will
serve as the framework for the completion of the
reconciliation process and political transition. The Charter
recognized and formally established provisions, which will
guide a democratic determination of the Somali State and a
fuller participation of the Somali people in the
implementation of the transitional process that was possible
at the Somali national reconciliation conference, which was
organized outside the country.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
The process of
reconciliation in Somalia faces momentous task and difficult
challenges. All of the Government institutions must be
re-established; militia must be disarmed, demobilized and
re-integrated into the society. The country’s physical
infrastructure must be rehabilitated and modernized. Only
then will it be possible to put Somalia on a path to
recovery and sustainable peace.
The Transitional Federal
Charter intended as an interim constitution envisages
continuation of the reconciliation process. The
Transitional Federal Parliament is the central institutions
for sustaining the process of reconciliation and pioneering
the spirit of tolerance and inclusion, which essential to
the consolidation of national unity and the country’s
economic reconstruction.
Mr. Chairman, esteemed
colleagues, 13 previous attempts to restore Somalia has
failed. This time, we are determined to make Somalia an
African model of reconciliation and peace making. Our
success will in large part depend on the capacity and
performance of the Somalia’s Transitional Federal
Parliament.
The Transitional Federal
Parliament was conceived as a central pillar of the process
of national reconciliation. As the most representative
national political institutions, the Parliament has overall
responsibilities for ensuring the transition to final
democratic institutions in a manner that responds and
reflects the will of our people and complies with the
provisions of the Transitional Charter and the rule of law.
The charter calls the drafting of a national constitution,
the establishment of states, regions and districts as the
framework for governance.
We are a new parliament
that lacks the resources, the physical infrastructure and
institutional memory. How we develop over the next few years
of transition will decide the success of our national
reconciliation and the future and effectiveness of our
democratic institutions.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished
colleagues.
We fully support that the
inter-parliamentary Union become the primary vehicle for
strengthening parliaments worldwide and collaborate with the
United Nations in post-conflict institution building. Our
delegation is convinced that partnership between the IPU and
the UN can facilitate access of Somalia and other countries
recovering from conflict to the accumulated democratic
experience and knowledge on building the capacity,
effectiveness and accountability of parliaments.
Somalia has learned
important lessons from its experience with international
peace keeping. We in Somalia will also like an opportunity
to rewrite the history of our relations with the United
Nations. The rewriting of that history has already started.
The United Nations and the UN system as a whole have been
and are engaged in all aspects of humanitarian assistance to
Somalia. The Secretary-General has appointed a Special
Representative to Somalia. In his latest report to the
Security Council on the situation of Somalia, the
Secretary-General has made important and wise proposals that
can significantly contribute to peace and reconciliation in
Somalia, without which the country cannot start the process
of reconstruction.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished
colleagues.
We urge you to support the
efforts of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General and the United Nations as they assist us
address the challenges of reconciliation, peace building and
economic reconstruction.
Finally, Mr. Chairman
I wish to acknowledge the
support of the European Union member states of IGAD and
international community to our national process of
reconciliation.
Faafin: SomaliTalk.com | Sept
10, 2005
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Daabaco
Boggan | Print