Somali Parliament Votes Itself To Continue

Somalia's Tranisitional Federal Government (TFG) has voted overwhelmingly to extend their mandate by a further 3 years.

The parliament speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, stated to reporters that they had voted to extend their term by 3 years in a vote carried out last Thursday 3 Feb 2010. 435 members attended the session with 421 voting for the extension. In a country where the average wage may be between $100 to $400, depending on the research source, the 500-member parliamentarians receive $300 per month from the UN. 

The UN-supported TFG controls small areas of the capital, Mogadishu, backed by 8,000 African Union troops on peacekeeping duty. Surrounded by Islamist insurgents, they are frequently mortared. However, the TFG has failed to enact any laws in the last 6 years. A key law concerning piracy was recently thrown out. The biggest achievement to date: refurbishing the parliament building it has been claimed.

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made the following statement:
"I regret the unilateral decision taken on Thursday by the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament to extend its mandate by three years. The decision was taken hurriedly without appropriate consultations on the way forward.
This step risks weakening the credibility of the Transitional Federal Institutions, and of their leadership, in the eyes of the Somali population. I urge the TFIs to re-engage in a broad consultation process, as it is only through such an inclusive process that there can be a sound reform agenda for the transition and beyond, and thus contribute to peace for the people of Somalia.
Progress achieved in this process will help the EU to define the scope and the extent of its support to the present and future institutional set up." 

 So, what is the next step for the TFG? After 20 years of civil war that has hindered any progress; the curtailing of humanitarian support for the starving people; in view of the increase in piracy off the Somali coast, and the claims that the terrirtorial waters are being abused in terms of fishing and toxic waste dumping... elect a new speaker and deputy. The President is likely to re-elect himself, if he so wishes... according to reports.
The TFG has no influence over the other regions of Somalia - Somaliland, which considers itself independent and better governed; or Puntland which is reportedly the region piracy first sprung from - indeed, when Somaliland was stated as establishing a Coast Guard to combat piracy, trained by a private security company and funded by an unknown Arab state, the TFG tried to stamp authority on Somaliland to absolutely no effect.

Considering that almost every proffered solution to the problem of piracy off the Somali coast has been centred on resolving the problem ashore, namely Islamist insurgency and a starving population, it is difficult to see how there will be any effective progress in the near future. If the TFG cannot look after their own, or at least be seen to be heading that way, the question being asked is how can the UN funding be assured of being used for the betterment of the failed state of Somali?