Forum accuses TPLF regime of meddling in Somalia election

ESAT News (January 26, 2017

A Somali Diaspora forum said on Thursday that the regime in Ethiopia is “directly and openly” dictating to influence the election of Somalia’s president next month.

The Puntland Diaspora Forum was responding to an analysis published by the Centre for Dialogue, Research and Cooperation, a centre established by the Ethiopian regime last year, which said the clan system was the only viable option for Somalia.

The Puntland Diaspora Forum rejects CDRC’s proposition saying it was “not only inaccurate, but also highly patronizing for Ethiopia” to suggest that the clan system was the only option for Somalia.

“At a time when the Somali people are trying to move away from a clan-based political system and look ahead to a future of democracy and elections based on one-person-one-vote, Ethiopia is emphasizing the importance of maintaining the clan politics and warning of catastrophe for the country and region if this system is changed,” the Forum said in a release.

The Forum said the claim by the Ethiopian regime that a single clan called the “Hawiye” would only accept a president from their clan was not true. “Regrettably, Ethiopia has now moved to directly intervene in the presidential election in Somalia through the veiled threat of the resurgence of Al-shabab terrorist activities in Mogadishu. Ethiopia is inaccurately claiming that the Hawiye clan, who live in and around Mogadishu, would not accept anyone other than a fellow Hawiye to become president of the country, contrary to the city’s history and the Somali constitution.”

It said the Ethiopian regime will use “all means possible, including terrorism, in order to manufacture the election of a Somali president of their choice.”

The Forum accused that Al-Shabaab was created as a result of “Ethiopian invasion” of the country in 2006 and called for an investigation into the role played by the Ethiopian regime to the crisis in Somalia. “It is unacceptable for Ethiopia to imply that Al-Shabaab is nothing but the armed wing of the Hawiye clan, knowing full well that Al-Shabaab came to existence as a direct consequence of the 2006 Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia. The involvement of foreign powers including Ethiopia in the activities of AlShabaab cannot be ruled out, a situation that calls for investigation by the United Nations.”

Upon the orders of the late dictator Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian troops set their boots on the ground in Somalia in December 2006. After ten years of accusations of crimes against civilians, both in somalia and the Ethiopian somali region, the regime withdrew its troops in October 2016 due to what it said was “lack of financial support” from the international community.