Puntland

Puntlaand أرض البنط Arḍ al-Bunṭ Puntland
flag coat of arms
De facto regime , area is part of under international law	Somalia
Official language	Somali and Arabic
Capital	Garoowe
Head of government and head of government	Said Abdullahi Dani
surface	212,510 km²
population	2,400,000 (2006)
Population density	11.3 inhabitants per km²
currency	Somalia Shilling (SOS)
independence	1998 declared nationally and internationally not recognized
National anthem	National anthem of Puntland
Time zone	MSK ( UTC +3)
License Plate	SO
Internet TLD	.so
Telephone code	+252 (Somalia)

Puntland ( Somali Puntlaand ; Arabic أرض البنط, Transcription according to ISO 233 : Arḍ al-Bunṭ ; English Puntland State of Somalia ) is a region in north-eastern Somalia in the Horn of Africa , whose political leadership proclaimed an autonomous state with the capital Garoowe during the Somali civil war . The largest city and commercial center is the port city of Boosaaso . In contrast to neighboring Somaliland , Puntland is less interested in its own independence than in a solution for Somalia as a whole. The former Punic president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was president of the internationally recognized transitional government of Somalia from 2004 to the end of 2008 .

The country name is derived from the legendary land of Punt , which is described in ancient Egyptian sources and may have been in the Horn of Africa. Puntland initially used the same state symbols as the transitional government, but adopted its own flag , coat of arms and national anthem in 2009 . The most important clan in the region is the Harti subgroup of the Darod , especially their subclan Majerteen.

geography

Puntland covers about a third of the land area of ​​Somalia, borders Somaliland in the west, Ethiopia in the southwest and the Somali region of Galmudug in the south . The Gulf of Aden lies to the north and the Indian Ocean to the southeast . According to the administrative structure of Somalia , it includes the regions of North Mudug , Nugaal and Bari with the " Horn of Africa ". The affiliation of parts of the Sool and Sanaag regions is disputed between Puntland and Somaliland.

history

The autonomy of Puntland goes back mainly to the rebel organization Somali Democratic Redemption Front SSDF of the Majerteen clan. This had fought against the authoritarian Somali government under Siad Barre in northeast Somalia since 1982 and had taken control of the region since 1988.

In 1998 the SSDF organized a meeting of clan representatives in Garoowe , at which it was agreed to create an autonomous regional administration. The model for this was not least Somaliland , which has been virtually independent from Somalia since 1991 and has established a relatively stable democratic system. In contrast to Somaliland, however, SSDF leader and President Puntland's Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed did not intend lasting independence, but rather reconciliation and the reconstruction of Somalia.

When there was a confrontation between President Yusuf and the parliament of the self-declared state in Puntland because of the demand for new elections in 2001, the latter replaced Yusuf on November 14, 2001 with his fiercest domestic political opponent, Jama Ali Jama from Boosaaso (in northern Puntland). Behind this power struggle stood the Somalia interim government , formed in 2000 , which wanted to prevent a two-front war against an alliance of the Puntland separatists with opposition warlords in south-west Somalia . Only a week later, Yusuf, who had initially withdrawn to Gaalkacyo in southern Puntland, returned to the capital Garoowe at the head of loyal troops and declared himself anti-president.

This was made possible by direct weapon aid from a few thousand Ethiopians who had been sent from Addis Ababa to reinforce the fight against the Somali transitional government. Ethiopia had already intervened in the Somali civil war on various occasions and, among other things, supported the secession of Puntland in 1998, as it fears a strong and united Somalia because of its territorial claims ( see Greater Somalia ). In 2003 Jama's deputy and successor agreed to a ceasefire, while Yusuf agreed to a power-sharing in return. Since Jama had temporarily withdrawn to the border region of Sanaag , which is actually outside of Puntland, an armed confrontation with Somaliland along the border between the two breakaway republics also occurred in early 2004 . The border between Mogadishu and Garoowe is also not precisely defined.

At an all-Somali peace conference in Kenya (without Somaliland's participation) at the end of 2004, the interim government reconciled with most of the warlords. Puntland also joined the interim government, and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed became Somalia's new interim president, which he remained until the end of 2008. The region continues to strive for autonomy and sees itself as an autonomous part of Somalia (Puntland State of Somalia) .

In August 2006, Puntland was temporarily harassed from the south by the Union of Islamic Courts . On August 16, this had taken the port cities of Hobyo , Harardheere and Eldhere . In the same year Galmudug declared itself unilaterally independent from both Somalia and Puntland.

At the end of 2008, piracy off the Somali coast , which originated primarily from Puntland, made headlines. In the meantime, Puntland has introduced the death penalty for pirates , but this does not deter them.

In the presidential elections in early 2009, parliament elected opposition leader Abdirahman Mohamed Farole as the new president. A democratization process was started under Farole, which resulted in the adoption of its own constitution on April 18, 2012. According to this, Puntland should act as an independent state until a Somali constitution is adopted by referendum. Since September 12, 2012, parties can be officially registered, which is an innovation in the political system.

On January 8, 2014 Abdiweli Mohamed Ali was elected as the new president of Puntland. Ali had been Somali Prime Minister between 2011 and 2012.

On July 31, 2014, Puntland announced that it would sever all relations with the federal government of Somalia. This is a reaction to the formation of a new Somalia state in the Mudug and Galguduud regions . Since Puntland controls the north of Mudug, his government felt that the central government's claim to the entire region was unjustified. After negotiations, an agreement was concluded in Garowe on October 14, 2014, which insures that the northern Mudug will stay with Puntland. The agreement also decided to set up a joint army. Talks on integrating Puntland as a federal state into the Somali state continued in April 2015.

On January 8, 2019, Said Abdullahi Deni won the presidential election. He replaces Abdiweli Mohamed Ali after 5 years in office.

politics

Map of Puntland and the surrounding area with clans, administrative regions and territorial claims

Puntland relies primarily on the Harti- Darod clan with the Majerteen, Warsangeli and Dhulbahante subclans and other smaller Darod subclans, for example. B. Leelkase and Awrtable. Today it controls the administrative regions of Bari , Nugaal and North Mudug , in which the majerteen dominate; it also lays claim to the parts of the Sool , Sanaag and Togdheer regions bordering to the west , in which Warsangeli and Dhulbahante live and which are also claimed by Somaliland . Since 2003, there have been several armed confrontations between Puntland and Somaliland over the disputed border regions. In late 2007 Somaliland took the city of Las Anod . Tensions remain between Puntland and Somaliland. On August 2, 2009, on the 11th anniversary of Puntland, the Garowe authorities reiterated that they would retake Las Anod. The conflict between Somaliland and Puntland is essentially about the future of the Somali state. While Somaliland insists on statehood and thus the end of Somalia within the borders of 1990, Puntland tries to restore a unified but federal Somalia.

Within Puntland there are differences between the three subclans of the Majerteen (Osman Mahamud, Omar Mahamud and Isse Mahamud) as well as between the economically prosperous, rapidly growing port city of Boosaaso and the less developed areas. Most recently, primarily about oil and raw material deposits suspected in the region. In the course of these disputes, Warsangeli in Sanaag proclaimed another autonomous state, Maakhir, in July 2007 . After a relatively short time, however, in January 2009, the latter officially joined Puntland.

Puntland has a regional parliament with 66 members, whose main function is to elect the president every four years.

economy

The most important economic basis of the population is the (nomadic) keeping of camels, goats and sheep. In addition to incense and gum arabic produced. Droughts , which occur every few years in the region's climate, are a problem. The port town of Boosaaso on the north coast of Puntland has developed into an important port of export for goods from the Somali areas further south.

There are significant fish stocks off the coast, but in the absence of an effective coast guard, they are increasingly being exploited illegally by foreign fishing fleets. The World Food Organization (FAO) estimates that around 700 vessels fish off Somalia every year without a license. Clive Schofield, author of a study of the pillage of Somali fish stocks, estimates that foreign fishing fleets have removed significantly more protein from Somalia's waters than the world has given the country in the form of humanitarian aid.

A significant part of piracy in Somali waters originates in places like Eyl and Harardhere on the east coast of Puntland. One of the causes is illegal fishing, which damages the livelihoods of local fishermen and has driven some of them into piracy. Today piracy is a lucrative business in which businessmen and former civil war fighters from Puntland and all over Somalia also participate.

Oil deposits are suspected in Puntland and the surrounding area . The regional government has issued licenses for oil exploration to the two companies Range Resources from Australia and African Oil Corp. without the consent of the Somali transitional government . awarded from Canada. The explorations started in 2008 were stopped in 2015 due to the uncertain political situation.

As in other parts of Somalia, private businessmen were involved in counterfeiting on a large scale. High-ranking government officials in Puntland were also accused of participating in these activities. The consequences were a sharp decline in the value of the Somalia shilling and rising prices, which were exacerbated by global factors . The prices in Puntland nearly quadrupled; a sack of rice cost around 13 US dollars at the end of 2006 and over 50 US dollars at the beginning of 2008. Merchants sometimes refused to accept Somalia shilling notes due to the high proportion of counterfeit money, which led to riots. Under the Farole government, these counterfeiting has been largely curbed since 2009.

See also

• Border dispute between Somaliland and Puntland

Web links

Commons : Puntland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gérard Prunier on regional autonomy in Somalia and the emergence of Puntland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Website of the government of Puntland on the population ( Memento from December 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Puntland Cabinet Approves Anthem and Meets TFG Parliamentary Members ( Memento from March 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Geeraarka Calanka Puntland ( Memento from January 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Puntland parliament adopts new flag . In: Horseed Media , December 23, 2009, accessed September 14, 2015
5. ^ Puntland opens political party registration. (No longer available online.) In: Sabahi. September 13, 2012, archived from the original on October 26, 2012 ; accessed on September 14, 2015 (English). 
6. ^ Former head of government Somalia's new president of Puntland. In: Zeit Online . January 8, 2014, accessed October 6, 2015 . 
7. ^ Mohammed Yusuf: Somalia: Puntland Cuts Ties With Somalia Over Formation of New State. In: AllAfrica.com. August 12, 2014, accessed August 20, 2014 . 
8. ↑ Somalia: Puntland clinches deal with Federal Govt. In: Garowe Online. October 14, 2014, accessed May 2, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Somalia: Puntland to contribute 3000 soldiers to Nat'l Army, another deal signed. In: Garowe Online. April 12, 2015, accessed May 2, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Somalia's Puntland region elects New President
11. ^ Markus Virgil Hoehne: Puntland and Somaliland clashing in northern Somalia: Who cuts the Gordian knot? . In: Social Science Research Council , November 7, 2007, accessed September 14, 2015
12. ^ Markus Virgil Hoehne: Mimesis and mimicry in dynamics of state and identity formation in northern Somalia . In: Africa 79/2 (2009), pp. 252-281. doi: 10.3366 / E0001972009000710
13. ^ A historic journey from opposition to the Puntland presidency. (No longer available online.) In: Garowe Online. January 8, 2009; archived from the original on January 3, 2013 ; accessed on January 14, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Andrea Böhm and Heinrich Wefing: Who is the pirate here? . In: Die Zeit , No. 49, November 27, 2008, accessed on September 14, 2015
15. ^ Canadian company to begin oil exploration in northeastern Somalia . In: Hiiraan Online , May 25, 2008, accessed September 14, 2015
16. ↑ Africa Energy and Range Resources withdraw from Puntland ( Memento August 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: OilVoice , June 30, 2015, accessed September 14, 2015