Veteran Somaliland MP warns against HoA regional integration

SOMALILAND.COM – Somaliland veteran member of parliament and interim chairman of Waddani Party, Abdiqadir Haji Ismail Jirde, warned against the Ethiopian push for regional integration championed by prime minister Abiy Ahmed.

Abdiqadir Jirde urged the country’s intellectuals to articulate Somaliland’s position to secure the nation’s survival amid shifting regional politics. 

In a lengthy speech at the floor of the House of Representatives, Abdiqadir Jirde warned against the Ethiopian push for regional integration championed by prime minister Abiy Ahmed said the Ethiopian initiative is the continuation of the Ethiopian imperial dream of securing a foothold in the red sea. 

He stressed that Ethiopia has not relinquished its imperial ambition, but the current geopolitical climate necessitated its reshaping. He likened to Somali irredentism of Greater Somalia comprising Somaliland, Djibouti, and the Somali regions of Ethiopia and Kenya.

Those kinds of dreams do not die and they didnt. Our dream of greater Somalia has not died from us, too.  It has not died, but the current circumstances have made it impractical. We expect one day that five Somali regions will come together freely. Those kinds of dreams do not die. The arab unity is the same. It never dies but each generation works on it according to what’s possible at their time. Their ambition is just like that and it never ceased. 

Abdiqadir Jirde, Somaliland MP

MP Jirde also criticized what he called the simplistic explanations that rely on the presumed goodwill of the Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed. He urged the country’s intellectuals to articulate Somaliland’s position to secure the nation’s survival amid shifting regional politics.

The notion that Abiy Ahmed is our ally, has our best interest in mind is very simplistic. It is easier to be fooled by those simplistic explanations. We need to utilize our intellectuals, we have international law and International relations experts, to write a paper on it and put in place a strategy for our survival in these regional shifts. 

Abdiqadir Jirde, Somaliland MP

Jirde is the first high ranking Somaliland official to openly question the Ethiopian initiative for regional integration.