I continued my conversation with the cat after a long pause.  I surveyed the feedback from the readers and the cat won both the debate and the fish. In fact I gave her a bigger chunk more than she asked. Although the cat won both the fish and the debate, yet she was very unsettled. She was worried that she might have alienated the hen that lays the golden egg on becoming aware that the dialogue was published in a leading website. I realized that cats don’t like publicity like we do. As the cat finished her food, I asked her “Are you happy after you got what you wanted… a piece of my fish and you don’t say thank you. You are ungrateful. If you were like a Somali you would have been thankful. Where is the gratefulness you were boasting off the other day? I see no sign of happiness on your face; I only see a shoe face. That is what you are. That is your true color.”

“For your information a cat never gets satisfied with what she gets for the day; tomorrow is another worrisome day. A cat is not like the Somali who gets instant gratification when you give him a bundle of Qat. Having said that, I close my eyes to receive your gifts and that is the cat’s way of saying thank you. In spite of the fact that Somalis are giving people, I heard no ‘thank you’ from a Somali. I thought the word thank you is an alien concept to you. I am also worried about the repercussion of what I said the other day. After all if it is not you, it will be another Somali who has to show his generosity tomorrow. I also know that you are a very revengeful people very unlike cats. I may have inadvertently angered a lot of Somalis for what I have said. Cats know if you anger a Somali he will never forgive you. He will take revenge from you or from an unaware relative. To a cat that is the mother of all crimes and only a Somali can do that,” said the cat a little bit subdued.

“I must admit that is a bad case and we are not proud of that. I am not a cat to deny that. Logically everybody should be responsible for his actions only. But think of a mother that feeds on its own babies. Of all God’s creation you are the cruelest being,” I said with a smile.

“Although I don’t admit to be a denying cat as you wrongly accuse me, I have to admit I close my eyes when I eat and in fact I don’t know what I’m eating. If it is not something delicious, I wouldn’t eat it and for heaven’s sake my kids can’t be that delicious. Very unlike you my tongue and my nose tell me what to eat not my eyes.

I do not mean such heinous crimes were ever committed by me or by other cats though. But let us call a spade a spade. You must have heard the popular Somali song called “soo dhalo” of a baby in his mother’s womb who refuses to come out of his mother’s womb in spite of being overdue, because the only safe place is his mother’s womb. The baby says ‘I don’t want to come out only to be killed’. What type of environment is that? I hope from the bottom of my heart that nothing of that sort happens to a cat. That song makes all cats cry and as you may not know, cats are caring as well as emotional”, the cat replied.

“May I suggest if I may, to let bygones be bygones and let us talk about another more interesting subject than allegations and accusations? Let us talk about politics. Do you read Somaliland politics?” I asked.

“That would be good for a change, though I don’t know much about politics. All I know is what I hear here and there; nothing special. But we can still talk about that. What do you have in mind”? The cat said.

“Does the cat understand what we mean by political parties, democracy, elections, Parliaments etc all the good stuff here in Somaliland. If you are aware of that, I am sure you would love to be a Somalilander?”

“I hear political discussions… sometimes I witness fist fights too. I know when political parties run for election in a democratic set up, a parliament is born. The Parliament is therefore like a baby and a baby must crawl first before he/she can stand up and finally run. Other countries had parliaments for ages, and have developed parliamentary traditions and ethics, but the Somaliland parliament is only four years old. I say this because you expect too much from your parliament,” said the cat.

“You don’t mean that the Somaliland parliament is still a baby”? I asked.

“Well; there is a simple cat litmus test to see whether they are babies or not. If the members of the Parliament fist fight or use armies while in session, definitely they are still babies because that is what babies do. It is a common knowledge for cats in Hargeisa that such fights have a regular occurrence in Parliament. Cats could only fight over food not over ideas or views. A cat should not put words into your mouth, but where does that put them”, said the cat staring at me.

“Does the cat know the difference between the ruling and the opposition parties,” I asked.

“That is an easy question. When democracy is exercised, and fair elections take place, the majority party becomes the ruling party and the losing party becomes the opposition party. The majority party forms the government and the minority party forms the opposition. The government tries to push developmental programs forward as promised during the election campaign and the opposition pushes it back. If the government is stronger, the country moves forward. But if the opposition is stronger the country moves backward. If neither is stronger, there is a stalemate… no winner no loser only the people lose.

Djibouti with little resources is shooting for the stars, because the ruling party is much stronger than the opposition party. In a democratic environment, the ruling party and the opposition party are given opposing mandates similar to a tug of war. That is why the Somaliland Parliament sometimes gets physical. It is not only here, the same thing is true in America where the Republican opposition party in Congress is pulling heaven and earth to fail Obama’s program. If Obama succeeds America moves forward, but if the opposition succeeds America goes backward”,the cat explained.

“What is freedom of speech in a democracy?”

“It is a very tricky and slippery process and people understand it and exercise it differently. But I will simplify it for you as I understood it from what I hear… of course I don’t read; I am only a cat.  It is a process whereby everybody is free to talk, to write, or vote freely without reservations and without restrictions. The louder voices they make the more democratic they are. Freedom of speech or expression is the ultimate test of democracy”.

“In that case, does the right of one person cross the right of another person?”

“This freedom of expression is not for those who do not exercise it. If you do not exercise your right, it is your choice, but you will not stop somebody from exercising his/her right. Suppose you don’t like somebody in a democratic setup for some reason or the other, you have the right to chastise him in public or as some may put it character assassinate him in broad day light. You could do that by saying for example, “according to reliable sources, Mr. “X” had engaged in an illegal and an immoral affair with a teen ager or Mr. “Y” has stolen billions of dollars from the government purse”. The reliable source, the affair and the stealing do not exist, but the right to express that in public exists in a democracy. It is a fundamental right that can’t be denied at least to the media people…the custodians of the free press in a democracy. The accused also has the same right. It is a level playing ground for all.

The alternative is dictatorship where there is only one voice and one right…the one right and the one voice of the dictator. No system is a panacea, however democracy is chaotic without responsibility and dictatorship is bloody without obedience. So you have rightly chosen freedom which breads chaos over obedience which breads order. But hopefully with time, democracy will bread not only freedom but order too. That may be a long shot, but do you have any other choice. Remember no other country on earth enjoys more freedom of expression than Somaliland. By the way is democracy an end by itself or is it a means to an end? If it is an end by itself, you have it all. But a cat’s first choice is food not democracy. A cat likes the old Somali saying; ‘don’t give kisses to a baby put milk in his pot’. I think a cat has a lot in common with the yester Somalis not the current ones. Honestly a cat can’t see what freedom of speech can do for an empty stomach. As a cat, I wonder which comes first delicious fish food on your plate for all or a plate full of democracy for the vocal few!” The cat asked.

“Do you know what Guurti (the House of Elders) means here in Somaliland?”

“Yes it is the House for the senior citizens of Somaliland. They have the sole authority of extending their term of office and that of others. If you have them, you need no elections. The parliament is intentionally not going to run for elections in 2010, they are counting on the Guuti to extend their terms of office. But there is a problem. I heard the Guurti fight in House sessions and if they do, according to my litmus test they are babies too. But how can a senior citizen be a baby? And there is a hot debate, whether they should be elected or nominated after its term of office expires”. There is also another debate concerning its leadership. The Head of the Guurti is said to be an educator as well as a seasoned politician, but also an ex ‘Almadar’ (The rainy). They say once almadar always almadar and can’t rise to a traditional leader because that requires a different kind of experience and therefore not fit to hold a leadership position that was tailored for a traditional leader. There may be an inherent contradiction between modernism and traditionalism”, the cat said.

“Do you have a view here? Which one do you prefer; election or nomination?” I asked.

“If something works, you better stick with it. Change for the sake of change is not good enough for a cat. The Guurti was good for Somaliland and that means the method used to create them deserves a second chance. The country has averted a number of fatal political disasters because of them. I understand that they were nominated and I think nomination is better than election in this situation. You have an elected parliament and I can’t see the sense in electing another parliament. It will be too costly and it will be a duplicate parliament which is dominated by members who have double citizenship who may not have the best interest of this country at heart. There could be a conflict of interest between this country and their adopted country.

The Guurti has both its legs here in Somaliland. But the vast majority of the Parliament has one leg here and the other leg in some other country. In particular the Speaker of the House has the bigger foot in Finland and a smaller one here in Somaliland. Secondly the House of Elders was originally founded to be a House with a difference and was not meant to be a copy cat of the parliament. In addition to its legislative powers it was meant to be a reconciliation and arbitration body that would represent all sectors of the society that could not otherwise be represented through election. Minorities and women should be represented and only nomination can offer that chance. Distinguished personalities who served your country may not be electable also, but a nomination with clear cut criteria could do that. The House of Elders should be an inclusive club not a house for electables like the house of parliament,” said the cat.

“Can a woman be a member of the House of Elders”?

“No if she is a Somalilander. But as I understand, women of other countries can be whatever they want. I hear many people swearing that a woman is not fit to be a member of the Guurti. The House of Elders is said to be tailored to be an exclusive club for older men. Why? A cat can’t answer that. Even a cat knows your country wouldn’t be what it is without your women and if you put them in higher places the country will be that much better. And for your information, cats don’t have a gender problem,” said the cat.

“Do you know the three Party Chiefs?”

“Yes I know them, but because I am only a cat I can’t pronounce their names properly; however I will try to describe them so that you understand what I mean. The first one has a big Somali name, the second has a big Arabic name and an animal nickname and the third has a combination of Arabic and an animal name. The one with the big Somali name is the King now,  while the one with the animal nickname wants to be a King and the one with the combination of Arabic and the animal name wants to be a king maker”, the cat answered.

“Who do you think will win the coming Presidential election from a cat’s perspective?” I asked.

“No one is going to make my life better, but may the better one win, so that the life of the people here could be better and there will be a lot of fish for you and for me. However we are animals and we sympathize with those who carry the animal name. But I am surprised why take the name of a hyena or a snake if you have to and not the lion…my uncle the king of the animal kingdom,” concluded the cat.

“Is there a difference between the three Parties platforms”?

“Yes there is, and it is a big one. The three Parties embody the vision of its three leaders. UDUP platform embodies Rayale’s vision; Kulmiye’s embodies Silanyo’s vision and Ucid Warabay’s vision. These platforms or visions are as different as the three Party leaders are. The question is who can best lead the nation; goes directly to their visions and to their personalities. You need leaders to lead you not platforms or programs to lead you. To the best of my cat knowledge, no one has a hidden agenda; what you see is what you get. Look them in the eye and hear what they say and you have it all. In America the party has a known platform and they find somebody who fits that platform; whereas in Somaliland you find the leader and he comes up with the program that fits him. The difference between the two is clear here.

For example the Democratic Party of America’s platform among other things includes gay rights and the right to abortion; whereas the Republican Party platform opposes those rights. The Democrats are pro poor and the Republicans are pro rich. You can’t separate your political leaders on ideological grounds like the Americans do. Yours and the American system however are the two sides of the same coin. It boils down to which comes first; the program or the leader. It is the chicken and the egg thing. But a cat thinks a good leader will produce a good platform but a good party platform will not produce a good leader. Mr. Bush was elected on a good Party platform twice, but he turned out to be a bad leader and that is a clear testimony that your system is much more superior to that of America,” concluded the cat.

Dr. Omer Ibrahim H. Hussein

Email: Omarh1980@hotmail.com