MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the country’s international partners, accusing them of facing a “cultural problem” and of continuing to treat Somalia as though it were still in the transitional period, when the country had no laws, constitution or meaningful government.
Barre said international partners must change the way they deal with Somalia, arguing that they continue to act as though they can dictate to his government what it should do and what it should not do.
He said international partners may have been accustomed to exercising such influence during Somalia’s transitional government period, but argued that they should no longer approach the country in the same manner.
The prime minister’s remarks appeared to target Western partners who, in recent months, have expressed concern over Somalia’s ongoing political crisis and pressured Mogadishu to reach a political settlement with the opposition in an effort to resolve the electoral dispute and prevent the country from descending into an abyss.
Barre also pushed back against what he portrayed as a dismissive attitude toward Somalia, saying the country exceeds many East African countries on multiple fronts and should not be held in contempt.
He called on Somalia’s international partners to change their approach.
The remarks came just one week after President Hassan Mohamud told a summit of countries contributing troops to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM, that a clause in the summit communiqué calling on the Somali government to engage with the opposition and other stakeholders to end the country’s political crisis should be removed.
Mohamud argued that Somalia’s political issues are matters of national sovereignty and should not be included in the communiqué.
Barre’s remarks represent the strongest attack so far on Somalia’s Western partners, with whom the Somali government has been dependent for decades for support in state-building and the fight against insurgents.
The unusually forceful criticism comes amid a growing wedge between Mogadishu and some of its international partners over Somalia’s political crisis, with Western partners pressing for engagement between the government, opposition and other stakeholders while Somalia’s leadership maintains that the country’s political affairs are sovereign matters.
The prime minister’s comments underscore the increasingly tense relationship between Somalia and international partners that have played a central role in supporting the country’s state-building efforts and its fight against insurgents, while Mogadishu insists that its government should no longer be treated as it was during the transitional period.
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