Mr. President, it’s not a time to politic. It’s a time to defend the country from the Ethiopian aggression

By The Editorial Board

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s intense campaign to push through radical constitutional changes at a time when Somalia is in the middle of a major existential crisis created by Ethiopia’s attack on the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is insensitive, unpatriotic and slap in the face for the millions of citizens who expressed fury over the blatant move to annex a part of Somalia.

Somalia is not in ordinary circumstance in which its politicians can afford to politic. It’s in an extraordinary moment in which all citizens are called upon to defend their country from the Ethiopian aggression. Government resources must be geared toward protecting the nation to put the kibosh on Ethiopia’s expansionism.

Ethiopia still persists in its hubris and did not address Somalia’s core concern: Its violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Nor did it show any sign of walking back its illegal deal with the northwestern Somali region. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s speech at the African Union summit over the weekend justifying the soundness of his understanding with a clan leader was an insult to the intelligence of the African leaders.

Addis Ababa officially believes that it violated no laws when it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hargeisa-based entity, which it argues “declared its independence” from Somalia. Since Jan. 1, when the MOU was inked, Ethiopia has been mobilizing its media, universities, political parties, civil society groups and the youth to support the government’s illegal action.

It’s unconscionable, therefore, that President Hassan, the commander in chief of the nation’s army forces, is more focused on his political survival rather than the survival of Somalia. It is incredible that the country doesn’t still have substantive foreign and security ministers in a time of crisis like this one. Dismantling the Hargeisa administration and heading off any military incursion from Ethiopia should have been the president’s top priority.

The head of state has missed an opportunity on Wednesday when he addressed lawmakers. He should have requested them to defer all debates about constitutional amendments in the two houses of parliament to give undivided attention to the existential challenges emanating from Ethiopia.

If the President presses on and eggs lawmakers on to hustle the unpopular amendments through, he will sully his reputation as a consensus builder and harm his ambition to run for a third term in 2026. The president, who already carries baggage from his failed first term, should not play Russian roulette with his political future.

His fiery statements against the Ethiopian aggression have won him a groundswell of support among the Somali public. But, his latest move is certain to paint him as a selfish, irresponsible and unpatriotic leader whose main goal is to find a way to stay in power regardless of whether that is detrimental to the nation’s interest and its future well-being.

Any constitutional amendments that are not widely accepted by the country’s stakeholders is likely to end up in a huge political and security mess, a concern that was publicly expressed by two former presidents who are opposed to the ongoing process.

The public’s main concern, though, is, there was no rigorous national debate over articles and clauses that have the potential to change the country’s governance system. Crucial issues such as federalism, identity, elections, political parties and the nation’s borders were not given the attention they acutely deserved.

The underhand efforts to overhaul the Constitution without public involvement is akin to President Hassan’s reprehensible request for the membership of the East African Community. Somalia’s accession to the bloc has not even led to the opening of its border with Kenya, the only country that shares border with Somalia.

The Somali public, whose views were blithely disregarded, must reject the president’s bid to railroad the self-serving amendments through the two houses of parliament. Constitution making is not a personal project, and neither President Hassan nor lawmakers, most of whom are corrupt and have foreign passports, can unilaterally determine the future of Somalia and its people at their own discretion. The proposed amendments, if passed, are likely to change the character of the nation and could have long-term ramifications for Somalia and ethnic Somalis in East Africa.

President Hassan’s fixation with executive powers, which he lacks now, speaks volumes about the real intention behind his current drive for constitutional changes. The initial plan for the conclusion of the document, first adopted in 2012 by the so-called National Constituent Assembly, was in 2016, when President Hassan’s first term ended.

In a desperate attempt to make up for his disastrous first term, President Hassan now wants to rush through the amendments to have a new Constitution this year before holding a nationwide referendum and then a one-man-one-vote election in 2026.

The public must be alert to the danger inherent in a half-baked Constitution. As per the proposed changes, the star in the nation’s flag, which symbolizes the Somali ethnicity in East Africa, could well be removed, a long-held dream for Ethiopia and Kenya, both of which occupy Somali territories. Unilaterally renouncing Somali regions would have dire consequences as we have seen in the recent past, when Kenya claimed ownership of a 100,000 square kilometers of Somali waters and as Ethiopia did on Jan. 1, when it cut a deal with a clan leader to try to grab a 20-kilometer stretch of coastland.

The new eagerness to fast-track the amendment reeks of selfishness, deceit and short-term expedient.

A ceremonial head of state, who illegally usurps the powers of the prime minister, President Hassan is angling for executive powers by abolishing the post of prime minister.

And if that happens, the immediate loser would be the Somali nation that will be saddled with a president, who has so far shown poor leadership, indecisiveness, weak nationalism, naked nepotism and dependence on foreign countries at the expense of the country’s strategic national interests.

What’s happening in Mogadishu nowadays is disgraceful. Lawmakers have already concluded their debate on the first chapter of the proposed amendments. Cosmetic awareness meetings about the Constitution are held in hotels in the capital, while the rest of the country, much of it under the control of the Shabab mafia, has no idea about what is at stake.

Where will the Constitution be applied? Or, more important, how will the citizens vote on it if they don’t have security or a say on its content in the first place?

The constitution review team should have traveled around the country to listen to the citizens’ views on every article and clause and incorporated them into the final draft before they were presented to the lawmakers. A select few, playing with words, and corrupt lawmakers, most of whose children are outside the country, cannot be left to decide the future of 20 million Somalis.

The timing is also suspect.

The country faces a national crisis that requires a laser focus from its leaders. Confronting Addis Ababa’s new aggression is a full-time job and Somali leaders must spend their time on rallying the public behind the noble cause of defending the country from Ethiopia’s attempt at annexation of a Somali land. They must also mobilize necessary resources for any potential confrontation with Ethiopia.

President Hassan’s desultory behavior doesn’t bode well for the nation. Jumping from one issue to another is the trait of an unfocused leader.

For more than a year, his attention was on the Shabab. Now, he’s jumped to politicking and put the war against militants on the back burner, especially at a time when its fighters are targeting citizens and government officials at will.

President Hassan’s worst undoing has always been his strong-headedness and scant regard for the views of the public.

Since coming to office, his presidency was steeped in opacity, illegality and lack of transparency, not to say anything of the terrible blunders he committed along the way, such as his scandalous security deal with the United Arab Emirates and his dubious bond with Djibouti’s leader, the architect of the un-Somali 4.5 system that was aimed at dividing the country into clan fiefdoms.

In the nearly two years he was in power, President Hassan has made dozens of foreign trips, meaning he was away from the country for months. He’s yet to explain to the public why those trips, which cost tens of millions of dollars, were important. He didn’t share the details of the myriad agreements he signed with foreign countries.

President Hassan, whose self-seeking track record is well known, can’t be trusted to spearhead a major constitutional process that needs transparency, which he doesn’t have, and a wider consultation, which he is not willing to have.

That is not to say the Constitution shouldn’t be amended. No. It should. What Somalia has is not literally a constitution. It’s a how-to book on the destruction of Somalia. What we’re saying is that it’s not the right time for a time-consuming constitution making. Also, the way it’s being done could only feed distrust and ill will among Somalis when the nation badly needs cohesion and consensus.

If President Hassan is so passionate about constitutional amendments, he should know that there are better ways and time to do it.

Now is not the time to divide Somalis. It’s the time to defend the country from the Ethiopian aggression. That is more than enough of a responsibility, Mr. President.