Mogadishu (PP Mews Desk) — The Federal Government of Somalia pushes to replace SSC-Khaatumo leader, Abdulkadir Firdhiye, following the latter’s criticism of the British government for “being biased towards the secessionist Somaliland Administration”. Villa Somalia construed Firdhiye’s criticism as an attempt to usurp Mogadishu’s role to formulate foreign policy.
The Federal Government of Somalia aims to use SSC-Khaatumo interim administration as a leverage without advocating a federal member status for the Laascaanood-based authority still viewed as a part of Puntland State of Somalia under the federal electoral laws. Puntland State supports the SSC-Khaatumo authority to become a separate administration in line with the February 6 Laascaanood Declaration of 2023.
Several factors determine the policy of the federal government to deal with SSC-Khaatumo authority. Outright support for SSC-Khaatumo adversely affects the goal of President Hassan Sheikh to secure the votes of the Dir clan in the bicameral legislature to effect amendments to the draft federal constitution. With relations between Mogadishu and Hargeisa at an all time low following the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding to lease coastal district to Ethiopia, the Damuljadid clique (President Mohamud’s inner circle) makes promises to both Khaatumo MPs and Dir MPs in line with the political goals of the two political antagonists.
Firdhiye defended the Djibouti summit of December 2023 as “a union conference” although the renewed agreement between the Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland Administration unexpectedly failed to address the conflict in Sool. The summit legitimated l secession claims embedded in the agreement that resulted in the forcible displacement of 1,600 Somalis in Laascaanood in 2021 and the six month-long shelling of the district by Somaliland forces. The SSC-Khaatumo leader relies on the advice of MPs and Senators from SSC-Khaatumo administration who raise his expectations about what the federal government could do to promote the status of the fledgling and self-supporting political authority in Laascaanood.
“Firdhiye ought to review his political communication. So far he has committed two costly political gaffes. He should not have defended the trilateral Djibouti summit of December 2023 as a union summit. It was a summit that compromised the sovereignty of Somalia” said a political analyst in Mogadishu. Had Firdhiye constructively criticised the trilateral Djibouti summit, he would have been hailed as a leader who had foreseen the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding signed in Addis Ababa by Somaliland Administration President Muse Bihi and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed.
© Puntland Post, 2024
