By WDM Editorial Desk
Act I: The Republic That Was
Once upon a time, there was a Somali Republic — singular, hopeful, and fragile. Born in 1960, with independence as its birthmark and unity as its ideal, it lasted barely three decades before collapsing under its own contradictions. That was the First Somali Republic — a democratic experiment with a functioning constitution, elections, and leaders who at least pretended to respect the rule of law.
It was not perfect — far from it — but it was a republic. People could speak, write, and disagree without being labeled “enemies of the revolution.” Then came 1969 — the year the soldiers traded their rifles for political speeches and declared that they had “saved the nation.” In truth, they strangled it.
Act II: The Phantom Republic
The military junta called itself “revolutionary,” not republican. Why? Because it wasn’t. You can’t have a republic without citizens who participate in their own governance. What we had instead was a military fortress draped in a national flag.
From 1969 to 1991, Somalia lived under what history should honestly label The Phantom Republic — a dictatorship wrapped in socialist rhetoric, without a constitution, without checks and balances, and without accountability.
A coup d’état does not create a new republic; it suspends one. You don’t call hijacking a “new flight.” The military didn’t build a new state — it simply occupied the ruins of the old one.
Act III: The Federal Reality (and the Confusion Industry)
In 2004, after years of chaos, Somali leaders, elders, and warlords gathered to sign the Transitional Federal Charter, which later evolved into the Provisional Federal Constitution of 2012. That was the true beginning of the Second Somali Republic — federal in structure, experimental in nature, and still under construction.
But today, in Mogadishu cafés and online “think tanks,” a new myth circulates — talk of a Third Somali Republic. Some even pronounce it with divine conviction, as if Somalia secretly dissolved the second one between two failed elections.
This confusion industry thrives on ignorance. These same voices can’t distinguish between constitutional transition and political chaos. In their logic, every reshuffle is a revolution, every new prime minister is a rebirth.
Act IV: The WDM Verdict
Let’s be blunt — Somalia remains in its Second Republic. There was no Second before 2004, and there is no Third now. The so-called “Third Republic” exists only in the fevered imagination of political commentators desperate for new slogans.
Until Somalia adopts a final, ratified constitution, what exists is an unfinished Second Republic — imperfect, disputed, but real. Pretending otherwise is not patriotism; it’s escapism.
So the next time someone mentions a “Third Somali Republic,” ask them politely:
“When exactly did the Second one end — during the last donor conference or at the airport lounge?”
WDM Editorial Stamp:
“We don’t rewrite history — we expose who’s faking it.”
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