Israeli moves to position themselves in the separatist region of “Somaliland” with the first ambassador handing over his credentials in Hargeisa, in a move that strengthens Tel Aviv’s presence in the Horn of Africa, and presents Mogadishu with political, diplomatic, and security challenges to preserve its territorial integrity, and confront the repercussions of this expansion.
The move was met with Arab condemnation, and Somalia considered it a “violation of its sovereignty.” He stressed that he “reserves the right to take measures to preserve his country’s sovereignty.” According to experts in African affairs who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, “the options are limited, the most prominent of which is international diplomatic action supported by Arabs, and the unification of the internal front.”
Experts warned that “any Somali military movements will exacerbate the matter, and may invite other parties to enter, and increase tensions in the Horn of Africa region.”
Michael Lotem presented his credentials as Israel's ambassador to Somaliland to the president of the separatist region, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Aro), last Sunday, at the presidential palace in the city of Hargeisa.
According to the Hebrew website "i24NEWS", the credentials presentation ceremony included laying the foundation stone for a future Israeli embassy in the regional capital. While Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, “Israel is determined to develop and strengthen its relations with Somaliland.”
On Monday, Somalia's ambassador to Egypt, Ali Abdi Awari, affirmed his country's categorical rejection of Israel's accreditation of an ambassador to Somaliland, explaining in a statement at the time that his country "will continue to uphold its full sovereign rights, defend its national unity, and the integrity of its lands by all legitimate diplomatic and legal means, and will not accept any attempts to impose a fait accompli that detracts from its sovereignty, or affects the unity of its people and land."
The Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed its categorical rejection of that step, calling on Israel to “retract these steps,” adhere to the principles of international law, and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Somali government “reserves its right to take whatever diplomatic, political, and legal measures it deems appropriate,” in defense of the country’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, without clarifying those positions.
Regarding Mogadishu’s options, the Somali expert in African affairs, Ali Mahmoud Kalni, believes that “the most effective option is to combine international legal and diplomatic action, unify the internal front, strengthen state institutions, and build regional and international partnerships based on common interests and respect for international law.”
He called for the Somali government to avoid any “uncalculated” military or security reactions, stressing that “turning the dispute into an open confrontation may open the way for regional and international parties to exploit Somali divisions and further complicate the crisis.”
On the other hand, the expert in African affairs, Abdel Moneim Abu Idris, believes that “Somalia does not have the tools in its hand to limit the growing Israeli presence in the region after its ambassador arrived in Hargeisa,” pointing out that “the territorial integrity of Somalia has become a distant dream after (Somaliland) began to gain recognition.”
The Arab position is still supportive of Mogadishu on the path of rejection, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, condemned “the Israeli move to accredit an ambassador and the intention to open an embassy in Somaliland,” warning in a statement on Monday “against dividing Somalia and exploiting the differences of its people to strengthen Israeli military and political influence off the Gulf of Aden.”
The Arab League Council had previously announced its “rejection and condemnation of the Israeli steps aimed at dividing Somalia.”
According to Kalni, the Arab League can “strengthen Mogadishu’s position politically and diplomatically, and coordinate the actions of member states of the United Nations and international institutions, especially since the issue is linked to the security of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in addition to its potential repercussions on Arab interests in the region.”
According to Kalni, the African Union represents “one of the most important parties that Somalia can rely on, given the organization’s historical adherence to the principle of respecting the borders inherited upon independence for fear that opening the door to unilateral recognition would encourage other separatist tendencies on the continent.”
The importance of the role of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Djibouti - along with neighboring African countries - in supporting regional stability and respecting the territorial integrity of Somalia is also highlighted, in addition to the fact that China, the European Union, and the United States can play influential roles in preventing this development from turning into a new source of security and military competition in the region, according to Kalni.
But Abu Idris believes that “the Arab League could move to support Mogadishu, although the impact of its movements will be limited,” and warns that “the growing Israeli presence will increase the intensity of competition in the sensitive region that controls important waterways, opening the door to new tensions.”
During a consultative meeting in the Libyan House of Representatives on the economic crisis in the country, the Speaker of the Council, Al-Salihin Abdel Nabi, called for “preparing a comprehensive national plan for economic and financial reform, going beyond temporary remedies, and enhancing local production.”
Abdul Nabi said during the meeting hosted by the House of Representatives in the city of Benghazi, on Wednesday, with experts and specialists in the economic and financial fields, that the current stage requires moving from diagnosing problems and exchanging views to “the stage of serious and responsible work,” calling for developing solutions based on scientific and professional foundations, and benefiting from national experiences and competencies.
In the meeting, which was coordinated with the National Planning Council, and in the presence of the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Fawzi Abu Khuzam, Abdel Nabi called for the formation of working teams and joint committees of experts to prepare practical visions as quickly as possible, with their outputs including executable and follow-up procedures, while specifying the entities responsible for each procedure and the timetables necessary for its completion.
Abdel Nabi painted a bleak picture of the living and economic conditions of citizens, and identified rationalizing public spending, enhancing financial discipline, and directing resources towards national priorities among the most prominent reform axes, in addition to diversifying sources of income, reducing dependence on oil, and developing productive sectors.
Within the framework of import control, the Speaker of the House of Representatives called for setting an import budget within the state’s general budget, with a specific financial ceiling not exceeded by bank credits, while directing it to the country’s actual needs, most notably food, medicine, feed, and manufacturing materials, reviewing other import aspects, and excluding non-essential and recreational goods from financing priorities.
He also stressed the need to support national factories, provide raw materials and production requirements, and direct funds to factories that engage in real production activity, taking into account the needs of the industrial sector when preparing import budgets, in a way that helps increase local production and meet market needs.
Regarding the fuel subsidy file, Abdel Nabi called for the preparation of an integrated study to reorganize the subsidy, develop mechanisms to ensure that eligible citizens benefit from it, and limit its use to the targeted groups, in a way that achieves the goals for which state resources were allocated, and contributes to improving the management of public spending.
The same official also called for addressing distortions in the exchange market, enhancing confidence in the banking sector, improving the investment environment, supporting the private sector, and creating sustainable job opportunities, in addition to enhancing transparency, governance, and oversight of the management of public money.
These moves come as an extension of Abdul Nabi’s positions during the House of Representatives session in Sebha, last Monday, when he announced that “next year’s budget will be unified, and will include the chapters stipulated by law, with the first chapter allocated to salaries only, canceling the other items from it, and allocating the fourth chapter to support and necessary needs.”
On Wednesday, Abdel Nabi expressed his hope that the consultative meeting would result in a unified economic vision and completed recommendations that form the basis of a comprehensive reform plan that can be implemented and followed up, stressing that Libya possesses the resources, capabilities and competencies that qualify it to build a strong and sustainable economy.
These calls come amid continuing pressure on the Libyan dinar, rising prices, declining purchasing power, and escalating controversy over the size of public spending, the distribution of oil revenues, and oversight of financial institutions.
Although “budget unification” represents an important step towards addressing the financial and institutional division, the implementation of the proposed reforms remains linked to consensus between the Libyan parties on managing revenues and spending, ensuring the independence of financial institutions, transparency and accountability, and preventing double spending, in light of the continuing current division in the country, according to observers.
Algerian parties will compete, starting Thursday and for a period of 21 days, for the votes of 23 million voters, in the local elections campaign, scheduled for the 28th of this month, amid fears of widespread abstention from the ballot boxes, following the large boycott witnessed by the parliamentary elections, which took place on July 2, when a voting percentage of no more than 21 percent was recorded.
With the launch of the local elections campaign, the “Independent National Elections Authority” showed, in a statement, its keenness to remind all political party candidates and lists of independents - and the various actors and those involved in the electoral process - of the rules and provisions regulating the electoral campaign, pointing out that “it is not permissible for anyone, by any means, or in any form, to carry out an electoral campaign outside the specified period.”
In stressing the necessity of adhering to the legal provisions related to the ethics of the electoral campaign and the actions of the candidates, the “National Authority” stressed the necessity of “refraining from delivering any hate speech, or practicing any form of discrimination,” adding that “the use of foreign languages during the electoral campaign is prohibited,” implicitly referring to the ban on the use of the French language in the first place, in the context of a general political directive that has been implemented since the outbreak of the diplomatic crisis with Paris in 2024, which is to erase Molière’s language from circulation in Companies, departments, and in election campaigns.
* Strict controls
The “Independent National Elections Authority” reminded that “it is prohibited to use the property or means of any legal person, whether public or private, or any institution or public body, for the purposes of electoral propaganda.” It is also prohibited for the purposes of electoral propaganda to use places of worship, public institutions and administrations, as well as educational and training institutions, whatever their nature, or the entity to which they belong, in any way.”
The statement continued by explaining that “the offensive use of state symbols is prohibited, and every candidate must refrain from any gesture, position, action, or other behavior characterized by violence, dishonesty, insult, degrading dignity, or violating the law or morals, while ensuring the good conduct of the electoral campaign.”
Regarding the media, electoral advertising, and the use of public property and spaces in the electoral campaign, the same statement clarified that audiovisual media outlets licensed to participate in coverage of the electoral campaign “are obligated to ensure a fair distribution of broadcast time among the candidates.”
The body constitutionally charged with organizing the elections also stressed the need to respect “the ban on publishing and broadcasting opinion polls related to voters’ voting intentions, during the seventy-two hours prior to the polling date,” stressing that designated public spaces are allocated for posting candidacy lists fairly within electoral districts, and that “any other form of advertising outside the places designated for this purpose is prohibited.”
Most political parties relied on a set of criteria in selecting their candidates for local elections, most notably academic competence, professionalism, integrity, and experience in local management, in addition to the ability to represent citizens and respond to their concerns.
* Complaints about exclusion decisions
Leaders in the National Liberation Front party (the first force in local councils) told the press during the list preparation stage that they paid great attention to competence, experience, and party commitment, while reducing the seniority requirement required for candidacy from five years to two years, with the aim of opening the way for young people and enhancing women’s participation, according to them.
As for the “National Democratic Rally” (the second political force), it relied, according to the statements of its Secretary-General, on the academic level and experience in running local groups, in addition to the credibility of the candidates, and their popularity, while the “National Construction Movement” focused on efficiency in managing public affairs, knowledge of financial management, and presence among the local community, as its lists include 50 percent of young people and 15 percent of women, and candidates without previous political experience represent half of its lists, according to statements by party leader Abdel Qader. Bin Qurayna.
On the other hand, the positions of the opposition parties varied regarding the electoral entitlement, as the Labor Party, led by Louisa Hanoune, announced its participation in the elections, while criticizing the decisions of the electoral authority to reject many candidacy files, under the pretext of “suspicion of financial corruption,” and demanding that the right to run be guaranteed and that constitutional rights be respected.
These positions reflect the parties’ focus on attracting talent, renewing nomination lists, and involving youth and women, in exchange for the continuing controversy over the conditions for candidacy and guarantees of electoral competition.
For its part, the “Socialist Forces” Front, led by Youssef Oushish, criticized what it described as “widespread and arbitrary exclusion” of a large number of its candidates, demanding a review of the decisions to reject candidacy files, and ensuring the integrity of the electoral competition.
As for the “Rally for Culture and Democracy,” led by Othman Mazouz, he stressed the need to ensure the transparency of the elections, the neutrality of the administration, and equality between the parties, criticizing what he considered ambiguity in the procedures and violations in the application of the electoral law. He also called for providing real guarantees to restore citizens’ confidence in the electoral process.
