Somaliland has set seven conditions if talks with Somalia are to resume.
Somaliland President Muse Bihi in a statement said Somalia and the mediating team must first recognize his country as independent from Somalia.
“The Republic of Somaliland insists on finding a two-state system and a solution that ends in two independent states, because both were two independent states that united on July 1, 1960, withdrew in 1991 by re-asserting our sovereignty,” the president said in a statement.
Bihi was categorical that for the Somaliland-Somalia Talks to be continued it should be a serious and tangible one with an essence in it.
He said that the nation is ready to resume the stalled talks but with conditions.
He said, the only way to build trust on the round table, all previous agreements must be respected and implemented forthwith.
Somaliland further demanded for an independent international mediation team, a secretariat. The country also wants a clear agenda for the talks which must also be concluded within a specific time limit.
“There must be an international mediation mechanism that guarantees the implementation of the resolutions of the dialogue,” Somaliland demanded.
“There must be a secretariat that manages data storage, and the Secretariat must be neutral and have the ability and skill for this task.”
“There must be important principles and a code of conduct on which the dialogue process will be based.”
“There must be a clear agenda that defines the conflict between the two parties, in order to discuss the issues at the core of the conflict and
“The dialogue must be concluded within a time limit.”
Bihi spoke at the Presidential Palace when he met a delegation of two diplomatic delegates from Norway and Turkey,
The delegation included Heidi Johansen, Aykut Kumbaroğlu, Haakon Svane, Ole Andreas Lindeman, Harun Arslan and Mohamed Abdullahi Omar.
The duo is said to be speeding up the resuscitation of the talks, which stalled last year.
Bihi said Somaliland is ready for dialogue but the dialogue must be a meaningful one.”
Somaliland’s position on the continuation of the Talks is as follows:-
The Republic of Somaliland insists on finding a two-state system and a solution that ends in two independent states, because both were two independent states that united on July 1, 1960, withdrew in 1991 by re-asserting our sovereignty; and in addition, Somaliland has been an independent state living in peace and stability for the past 31 years. During this period, Somaliland implemented many rounds of free and fair elections. There have been five (5) peaceful presidential transfers in Somaliland. Three of them were elected through universal suffrage through direct national elections.
All previous agreements must be respected and implemented forthwith; this is the only way to build trust.
There must be an international mediation mechanism that guarantees the implementation of the resolutions of the dialogue.
There must be a secretariat that manages data storage, and the Secretariat must be neutral and have the ability and skill for this task.
There must be important principles and a code of conduct on which the dialogue process will be based.
There must be a clear agenda that defines the conflict between the two parties, in order to discuss the issues at the core of the conflict.
The dialogue must be concluded within a time limit.
