UN Officials Welcome ‘Historic’ Approval Of New Constitution For Somalia
August 2, 2012: The overwhelming approval of a Provisional Constitution for Somalia
by the representative body convened for that purpose – a key step toward ending the
Horn of Africa country’s long transition to stable governance – was hailed by United
Nations officials on Wednesday.
“The Secretary-General welcomes the adoption,”
a spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at UN Headquarters
in New York on Wednesday. “He congratulates the delegates and the Somali leadership
for this historic achievement and their commitment to ending the transition and to
establishing new, representative political institutions in the country.”
“Today
is a day of celebration,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head
of the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), Augustine Mahiga, said in a statement.
“The adoption of the Provisional Constitution is an historic achievement as it completes
one of the most important milestones towards ending the current transitional period
and ushering in a new political future,” he added.
After decades of warfare,
Somalia has been undergoing a peace and national reconciliation process, with the
country’s Transitional Federal Institutions currently implementing the so-called Roadmap
for the End of Transition in Somalia, devised in September last year, that spells
out priority measures to be carried out before the current transitional governing
arrangements end in 20 days’ time.
The Provisional Constitution was a key part
of the process – it will provide a legal framework governing the workings of the new
Somali Federal Institutions after 20 August.
According to UNPOS, jubilant applause
broke out at the National Constituent Assembly’s (NCA) meeting in the capital, Mogadishu,
today, when the text for the document was approved by 621 delegates, with 13 votes
against and 11 abstentions. The NCA, made up in total of 825 delegates drawn from
all Somali clans, had spent the past eight days of deliberations.
“The Constituent
Assembly embodied the diversity of Somali society around the traditional clan system,
and ensured inclusiveness by bringing together elders, religious leaders, women, youth,
business people, intellectuals and the Diaspora,” Mr. Mahiga said.
The voting
took place despite suicide attacks on the NCA’s meeting venue earlier this morning.
According to media reports, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of
the venue, and the attempt follows a series of explosions in the capital, including
roadside bombs and grenade attacks.
Mr. Mahiga noted that the Somali delegates
“were not deterred” by the suicide bombings, the damage from which was minimized by
security personnel consisting of Somali forces and the UN-backed African Union Mission
in Somalia (AMISOM). “I pay tribute to the Somali and AMISOM security personnel who
ensured the safety of the delegates and the process,” he said.
In his remarks
to reporters, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the UN chief condemned the suicide attacks,
noting that “terrorism must not be allowed to roll back the important gains that have
been made so far.”
Until last year, most of Mogadishu, was, for several years,
riven by a fluid frontline dividing the two sides – fighters belonging to the Al Shabaab
militant group and troops belonging to the Somalia Government, with the latter supported
by AMISOM.
Since the Al Shabaab withdrawal from the capital in August last
year, the frontlines have been pushed back to the city's surrounding area. However,
the use of roadside bombs, grenades and suicide bombers still takes place. In addition,
Government forces have been on an offensive against the Al Shabaab, which still controls
parts of Somalia, primarily in its south-central regions.