Regional governments are working in Somalia. See Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug. They aren't perfect, but they function more effectively than the central government has in decades. The reason regional governments are working, and will continue to proliferate, is because central governance necessarily brings two men to the most powerful positions, president and prime minister. In a country divide by many clan-families, and with violent clan politics in its near past, there is a high level of distrust in central government. And so regions that are populated primarily by one or two clans make it easy to share responsibility and benefit of office, and lead populations to sense some comfort, however imagined.
Thus, decentralization of governance is the way forward in Somalia. Not succession or the creation of autonomous states, but rather a federal union. Therefore, the governments in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug should share their best practices and work to help those governments at earlier stages in development, so that a stable federated Somalia can emerge. From there, a more representative - but scaled down - central government can develop.
No comments:
Post a Comment