WAPMEN EDITORIAL

There was a time when Puntland was not merely an administration—it was an idea.
Founded in 1998 through a genuine grassroots reconciliation conference in Garowe, Puntland was born from below, not imposed from above. It was crafted by elders, intellectuals, business leaders, and community representatives who understood one harsh reality: Somalia was too fragile for ideological perfection. So they chose pragmatism over posturing.
Indirect traditional democracy—yes.
Clan-based power-sharing—yes.
Consensus before ambition—absolutely.
It was not perfect. But it was legitimate.
For nearly a quarter century, the system held. Regions selected representatives through clan-based consultative processes. Presidents were chosen by parliamentarians selected through traditional mechanisms. It was a carefully balanced architecture—designed for survival in a fractured country.

Until 2022.

The Intervention That Broke the Balance
When Said Abdullahi Deni intervened in Puntland’s indirect electoral architecture, he did not merely adjust procedure—he disrupted equilibrium.
The established consultative model, flawed but functional, was bent to accommodate political ambition. The message was clear: systems exist to serve incumbents, not communities.
And like a contagious political virus, the model spread.
Ahmed Mohamed Islam of Jubaland followed suit. Electoral manipulation and procedural improvisation became normalized. What was once a temporary transitional arrangement hardened into an executive-driven mechanism.
This was not reform.
It was executive capture dressed in legal language.
From Grassroots to Executive Decree
Let us be honest.
Puntland’s founders understood something today’s leaders pretend to forget: legitimacy in Somalia does not come from constitutions alone. It comes from social consent.
Indirect elections were never meant to empower presidents. They were meant to preserve cohesion.
But when incumbents interfere in the very system that sustains their legitimacy, the foundation cracks. Once clan elders and regional stakeholders perceive manipulation, trust erodes. And in Somalia, once trust erodes, institutions collapse.
The current paralysis within Golaha Mustaqbalka Soomaaliya is not accidental. It is a consequence.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud exploits the contradictions.
Regional leaders defend systems they themselves weakened.
Opposition figures argue for neutrality while standing on compromised ground.
Everyone is haunted by 2022.
The Contagion of Procedural Opportunism
What happened in Puntland did not stay in Puntland.
The precedent now haunts the federal debate:
Who controls electoral architecture?
Can incumbents shape the rules of their own succession?
Is indirect democracy still community-driven—or executive-managed?
When Puntland altered its practice, it weakened its moral authority in federal negotiations. How can one demand constitutional purity in Mogadishu while having blurred lines at home?
Political consistency is the currency of credibility.
Without it, negotiations become theatre.
Golaha Mustaqbalka’s Dilemma
Golaha Mustaqbalka Soomaaliya now faces a painful irony. It demands constitutional order and consensual process from Villa Somalia, yet some of its own pillars participated in reshaping indirect democracy to suit incumbency.
This is not a partisan accusation.
It is structural reality.
The crisis we see today is not simply about Hassan Sheikh’s unilateralism. It is about a broader decay of agreed rules across federal and state levels.
When rules become flexible tools, no actor remains innocent.
The Founders’ Warning
The architects of Puntland’s 1998 experiment understood fragility. They knew Somalia required gradualism. They resisted sudden transformations precisely to avoid elite capture.
Their system was transitional—but it was anchored in collective decision-making.
The tragedy is not that Puntland used indirect democracy.
The tragedy is that leaders interfered with its internal balance.
The Way Back
Somalia’s recovery will not begin in Villa Somalia.
It will begin where it started in 1998—at the grassroots.
If Puntland wants to reclaim moral leadership in federal debates, it must:
Restore transparent, consensus-driven indirect processes.
Insulate electoral architecture from executive manipulation.
Admit openly that 2022 introduced distortions that now haunt the federation.
There is no shame in course correction.
There is only shame in denial.
A Final Word
States are not destroyed in dramatic explosions.
They erode quietly—when leaders adjust rules for short-term advantage.
Puntland was born from compromise and collective wisdom. If it forgets that origin story, it risks becoming what it once opposed: another centralized authority managing power instead of sharing it.
Somalia’s federal future depends on moral coherence.
Without restoring integrity at the state level, federal reform is an illusion.
History is watching.
And 1998 is asking hard questions of 2026.

WAPMEN – Commentary and Critical Analysis