|
Somalia: The Stalemate Spreads
William Schulte, Research Associate, and Michael A. Weinstein, Professor, Department of Political Science, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, INWhat a difference a year makes for the Federal Government of Somalia (F.G.S.) when it comes to its political status as a would-be permanent government presiding over the territories of post-independence Somalia. Back in the autumn of 2012, newly birthed prematurely through a Caesarian section performed by the donor-powers/U.N., the fledgling F.G.S. had the highest of hopes for shaping and controlling the process of forming interim regional governments in south-central Somalia that would prepare for the institution of the regional states envisioned in the incomplete federal constitution. The F.G.S. would, according to its ambitious plan, appoint regional governors and superintend a process in which the clan-based factions within regions would reconcile and determine their boundaries through consultation and federal parliamentary action. A year later, the F.G.S.s plans lie dashed on the harsh ground strewn with factional fragments, each with its own plans for autonomy from the F.G.S. in its corner of south-central. The F.G.S. has failed to gain control over the process of forming regional states. Initiatives of state-formation have emerged in key south-central regions independently of F.G.S. inspiration. The F.G.S. faces a situation in which regional state-formation has been stalemated. The familiar phenomenon of Somali political stasis has set in with no end in sight.
Posted by: Steve White 2013-10-31 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=378712 |