Seasoned Somali politicians launched a new party ahead of the parliamentary election to held in 2016.
The new party, named, Wadajir Party was launched on June 9, 2016 in Mogadishu.
The ceremony, which took place in Hotel SYL was attended by politicians, intellectuals, youth, women, members of the federal parliament, and leaders of other political parties in the country.
Chairperson of the founding committee, Ambassador Nur Sheikh Ali Dinari, said that after week-long discussions, they decided to appoint Kamal Gutale as the interim party chairperson for a period of one year.
Gutale will complete the members of the party’s executive committee.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gutale – a former director of Presidency (Villa Somalia) and chief of cabinet – said that founders of Wadajir Party are men and women who in the past ten years were involved in Somalia’s politics.
“They share similar vision and after a comprehensive discussion about the future of the country, they decided to translate their ideas into political action,” he said.
Elaborating on Authenticity and Enlightenment, the party motto, Gutale said it was time to have Somali solutions for Somalia problems by engaging critical thinking in the process.
“Somalis should accept their responsibility to the country and stop blaming others for their failure,” he said. Gutale also talked about the principles of the Party, which are:
1/ Protecting the sovereignty, unity and dignity of Somalia, and to restoring shared sense of nationhood and identity.
2/ Putting effort in realizing the aspiration and dreams of the Somali people by building legitimate politics based on visions of truth, reconciliation and national unity.
3/ Fighting nepotism, corruption, clannism, extremism, misuse of power and resources.
4/ Putting more effort in reconciliation, countering extremist ideas as well as use of force to gain political power.
5/ Protecting the right of citizens and preventing abuse of their human rights.
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, a founding member of Wadajir Party, said that the party was alarmed by the current situation of the country, adding that the country’s leadership has failed in fulfilling the vision, aspiration, and dreams of the people.
Abdishakur promised that Wadajir would focus on security and fighting corruption. “We must have a national army, comprised of all federal states and the federal government, which will ensure the stability and security of our country”, Abdishakur said.
Abdishakur added that Wadajir party is determined to set up anti-corruption law and create a body that is able to investigate and persecute those accused of corruption.
“Corruption is a disease that spread in all government institutions and national leaders are part to it,” Abdishakur said.
Finally, Abdishakur said that Wadajir party would lead the country into national dialogue in issues that are important to the future of Somalia.
These issues, he said, include power and resource sharing, government’s political structure, national security architecture and to find ways to articulate what is common and then build that common life into the fabric of our institutions.
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