Essay Example on Somalia, Its Government, Civil Society and Economic Environment

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With the current reports and the statistics made in Somalia, Somalia has been distinguished to have a population of 11,300,545 people (Estes & Tiliouine, 2014). Somalia forms one part of the Cushitic branch which came from the Afro-Asiatic family. However, the majority of the people of the Somalia people come from the Sunni Muslim. Starting back from the year 2010, the gross domestic product of Somalia was found to be $187. Comparing this gross domestic product with the worlds per capita income, this is equivalent to only 1 percent of it. This was found to have increased from $147.80 from the year 1960 to the year 2010 where this was only a smaller margin. From the UN human development index, the level of the multidimensional poverty index in Somalia in the year 2006, 81.8 percent of the whole Somalia population was regarded to be multidimensional poor while the 8.3 percent were almost below the multidimensional poverty level.

According to Avis & Herbert (2016), putting the multidimensional figures into an average statistical figure, it has been estimated that 61.1 percent of the individuals in Somalia region are multidimensional poor. The intensity rate of the deprivation in Somalia is about 0.5. In regard to the Freedom House scores for political rights and civil liberties in Somalia, the following scores for the various human rights and freedoms the following scores were released: the electoral process in Somalia was rated to be 0 out of possible 12, the political pluralism and participation in Somalia was rated to be 0 out of 16, the functioning of the government in that country was rated to be 0 out of the possible 12, the freedom of expression and beliefs was marked to be 1 out of 16. The associational and organizational rights were marked to be 0 out of 12, the rule of law was rated to be 0 out of the possible 16 while the personal autonomy and individual rights were marked to be 1 out of 16. The economic position of Somalia in 2016 was found to be $6.2 while the per capita income in the same year was calculated to be $450 while the poverty headcount came out to be 51.6 percent.

Classification and Structure of Government

According to Driscoll & Lidow (2014), Somalia can be described as illiberal as it is a war broken torn nation. This has been justified by the tribal and the ethnic violence which has led to the destruction of the existing stabilizing institutions. There have been the long term effects that resulted from the military dictatorship of Said Barre. The likes of Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf and Mohammed Abdullah Hassan are the great philosophers who influenced the political system of the Somali people. The head of the Somali people is famously known as Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed who is the current president of that state. In the electoral process of Somalia, we have the 135 elders who hold an indirect election. The upper house is made up of 54 members of whom the state assemblies elect them. In addition, we have the 14, 025 delegates who are in charge of electing the 275 members of the lower house. These delegates do come from different regions in the country. There is also another group of 51 people who are elected by the 135 elders who have the responsibility of electing a member of the parliament.

Referring to the 51 group of the members or simply delegates selected by the elders, 25 of them come from the civil society. Ten come from the youth while the remaining 16 have to be women. 69 members of the 275 elected have to come from Baidoa while the remaining are equally distributed from the rest of the cities. According to Cawsey (2014), the highest level of the judiciary in Somalia is the constitutional courts. These courts have the responsibility of adjudicating various issues to down rich sub-national and federal matters and also anything to do with the constitution. There is also the judicial review in Somalia which tends to discuss the various matters pertaining the constitution of that state. This kind of judicial review mainly comes out as an order from the Supreme Court to offer solutions on some matters that tends to bring out some form of disagreements. The Somalia government comes out to be a federal system which was established in the year 2012 that was accompanied by the end of the transitional federal government with the respective interim mandate.

Policies in Somalia are administered through the federal system where there is no formal government that is in charge of policy implementation. This results from the inconsistency of the federal government in that country. Somalia constitution was adopted in 2012 which was first drafted in 1960 where it has full rights to protect the rights of the citizens as well as their duties too (Driscoll & Lidow, 2014). The Somalia constitution seems to have big support from the people as it defines the structure of the government. Furthermore, the main reason as to why the constitution receives much support from the people of Somalia is because it tends to appraise the rule of law, it is participatory consultative, there is the separation of powers between the judiciary, legislature and the executive and is efficient and accountable. It also caters for general standards of international law and appraises any aspect of doing with human rights of the people of Somalia. What matters most for this type of constitution is that it caters for the peoples interest at all cost. The government of Somalia to some extent has been able to control the economy despite the conflict that has been there since the 1960s. There have been various rival groups which have been disturbing the government hence mitigating its capability to control and run the economy in a smooth manner.

Competition, Stability and Civil Society

According to Ursing & Desai (2016), in Somalia land there over 19 political parties. Currently, as per say, the various political parties in the modern Somalia are not that effective. This has been contributed by the number of attacks by rival groups which has resulted in political instability in the region. No matter how the government is trying to bring back peace in the country, the more the situation is becoming worse day after another. Since 1986 there have been several political parties' conflicts in the state of Somalia, first which started in the Fall of Barre regime which took place for five years. Then there was the United Somalia Congress topples Barre and the United Nations Interventions. Furthermore, there has been other conflicts in the region which include the likes of USC/SSA. There has also been the United Somalia Congress which was found in the south and also the Somalia Salvation Democratic Front that was found mainly in the northeast of the Somalia state. The voting behavior in Somalia has not been that recommendable.

According to Abubakar (2016), the voting behavior in Somalia has been clearly outlined by the smaller number of turnout during general elections. The small turnout has been facilitated by the conflicts that have been there in the country where people are ever busy searching for food and safety. So it becomes very hard for the citizens to engage fully in elections where at the same time there is no peace in the region. Concerning whether the voting exercise is compulsory, this does not exist in Somalia, we find that there is no given individual who is forced to participate in the election as democracy is the order of the day. It is the right of each citizen to participate in the election without being forced by anyone. However, the turnout comparing it with the past elections, it is been said to be increasing as more and more people are becoming aware of the need to elect good leaders who will not only drive the country forward in terms of economic development but also creates sufficient political stability.

The most recent Somalia election was held on 8 February 2017. The former prime minister of Somalia was elected by the parliamentarians who had initially been elected in the autumn of 2016 (Ursing & Desai, 2016). Although this election had been postponed severally, finally it took place with minimal disruptions. The recent election took place in the airport of Aden Adde International Airport where Mohamed was declared the president and congratulated as a victor. Concerning the overall cost of the election, 60 percent was funded by the donor where the Somalia government only catered for 40 percent. The next general election to be conducted in Somalia will take place in 2021. Some of the recent political changes in Somalia include the upper house representing the federal member states. There will also be a sum of 54 members of the upper house. On how the 275 seats will be distributed, they will be distributed in regard to the 4.5 power which has to be followed to the letter.

The 4.5 power does exist in the clans that are prevalent in Somalia. On the other hand, there will be electoral colleges that will be at the forefront to the elect the 275 members of the house of the people. In addition, in how the president will be elected, this will only be taking place on 30th November of the election year where both members of the houses of parliament will participate fully (Abubakar, 2016). On how the 275 members of the parliament will be identified, this will only take place under indirect elections. The Electoral Colleges delegates will be elected by the 135 traditional elders at the same time consulting the sub-clans. One of the major social movement in Somalia land is the liberal movement which has gone ahead igniting the social consciousness as well as mobilizing the general public against the colonial rule. This has also enabled the generations of the Somali people to fight for their humanity in the years to come. This has also appraised the issue of what being a Somalia is by bringing to the forefront the various indigenous ideals in fighting for the Somali people rights.

Economic Environment

According to various research studies conducted about Somalia by prospective investment companies such as General Motors, the economic environment is not viable at all. This has been fuelled by the civil war that has been taking place in the country for over more than ten years. So it becomes not advisable to establish a foreign investment in the country although the inhabitants of the country do need the supply of goods and services. According to Hassan et al. (2014), a foreign country establishing an investment in Somalia should be prepared to incur huge losses either through loss of property or assets and also the various misfortunes that result from political instability. This has been clarified from the way there are a lot of immigrants from Somalia to the neighboring countries in search of not only food and shelter but also peace. There is no any given investment can prosper in a country where peace is not guaranteed. The government of Somalia has been at the forefront in ensuring that maximum foreign investment takes place in the country.

According to the Somalia constitution, the government has the responsibility of offering any form of security to any foreign investor. On the other hand, there are policies put in place to facilitate the cohesion between the public, private and the foreign investment in the country which is facilitated by some principles that have been laid aside. Foreign investment has also been facilitated by granting the right to own property of any one irrespective of where they come from (Hassan et al., 2014). Furthermore, foreign investors are guaranteed to be compensated in case of any situation that may lead to loss of their property and the state must be the one to cater for such expenses. Finally is the policy that guarantees the protection and security...