PM Hamsa: Somaliland's Independence Must Be Justified
Somalia’s new Prime Minister Hamsa Abdi Barre, who was given a vote of confidence by the Somali federal parliament yesterday, said he would form a capable government to address the country’s problems such as drought, security and finalizing Somalia’s draft constitution.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, he said his government would also focus on how Somalia and Somaliland could have a genuine and close dialogue.
As today marks June 26th, the day the northern regions gained independence from British rule, the prime minister said Somaliland’s independence needs to be rationalized.
“The decision to leave the union with Somalia did not come spontaneously by itself, there were reasons and problems that led to that position. We want these problems to be touched and discussed in a spirit of brotherhood and kinship,” he said.
He noted the need for Somalia and Somaliland to share appropriately all services currently with the Federal Government of Somalia, including the economic resources.
He added that trust needs to be built first before the technical aspects of the Somalia-Somaliland talks can be considered again.
It has been 31 years since Somaliland declared the unilateral dissolution of its union with Somalia.
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This is quite opposite to that of Farmajo’s administration for the past five years and it seems like a conciliatory approach that Hassan Sheik Mohamud’s administration wants to have the international community hear. In any case, the choice of Somaliland people for self-determination would never engage their freedom to become debatable.
On the part of the Puntland regional administration in Somalia, PM Hamsa’s remarks on the Somaliland case has been seen as a covert confirmation of Somaliland sovereignty, given the reaction of Puntland politician Ali Dahir Yussuf.
So far, there has been no reaction to PM Hamse’s comments from the Somaliland government