The most destabilising factor in Somali body-politic is the post of the president. This post is the source of all evils and adequately represents what went wrong in Somalia’s statecraft. Somali society is still primative and can not remodel advanced governance structures of modern societies. Under this title, its abusive nature, historical background, political tradition of governance in Somalia, practise of despotism, corruption, nepotism, tribalism and gross abuses of power without any checks and balances, originates from this presidential position. No matter what the national constitution stipulated under the parliamentary system, the president grabs power upon election, making the parliament, judiciary, and cabinet disabled and irrelevant as well as weakening of other public institutions across the board. The position, title, and powers of a president must be abolished constitutionally in Somalia. We believe that way a great burden on Somalia’s destabilising main factor could be lifted, and Somalia could be saved now from the brink of abyss. The problem of national presidency also cascades down to the presidents of the Somali Federal Member States. The title of regional president should be scrapped similarly. Understand that the title of the “president or head of state” is toxic in Somalia’s statehood and self-government. We know that from our history and experience. It isn’t just a theory.
To think through this idea, we have to first recognise that we have a severe governance problem that can’t be resolved through conventional thinking. We need advanced research into this issue, but we can start with a national congress to explore different ideas and consult widely, and agree to a New Deal.
One option in the menu of options is to explore the idea of creating a Council of Chairpersons with an annual rotating chair role. That way, continuity of governance experience and government operations could be maintained, and clan rivalries eliminated once and for all.
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