vertical index
The Independent Committee on Constitutional and Federal Affairs has been entrusted with a difficult task, which is to prepare the Draft Constitution. The Committee concluded its work on 30 June 2010, when the Public Consultation Draft Constitution (QDLD) was issued. The committee plans to widely disseminate the QDLD, and empower the Somali people to study their recommendations for the new Constitution. The committee expects the Somali people to send in their agreement with the committee's recommendations or send them different suggestions.
Due to the circumstances in the country, the committee was not able to consult with the people, as they would have liked before preparing the draft. Therefore, the QDLD was not presented as a final draft that was presented to the public to make a decision. So on the contrary his intention is to generate a public debate, focusing on specific ideas and suggestions. After the consultation period, the committee will analyze all the suggestions and recommendations submitted, before starting the process of drafting the final Constitution. This draft will be presented to the public in a referendum, so that they can decide whether to approve it as the new Constitution of Somalia or not.
However, the committee is made up of all the different sections of the Somali community, who have a common understanding of the country's needs and the things people fear or aspire to. They have worked hard to reach an agreement among themselves and when that is not possible to compromise on important principles. The Committee believes that the QDLD provides a good basis for further discussion and analysis.
The purpose of this report, which was given as a Consultative Report, is to describe the process of preparing the QDLD, the objectives of the QDLD and the issues it brought up and the path the committee took in relation to the creation of the new Constitution. It explains the justification for its proposals, to enable the public to better understand QDLD. Among the questions related to the proposals, which calls the readers to think about it, and at the same time send their answers to the committee in one of the ways suggested at the end of the report.
The purpose of the report is, by interpreting the QDLD, to facilitate consultation. The Committee believes that the QDLD is a good basis for consultation. The public finds it difficult to understand the abstract aspects of the proposed government structures and the relationships between different levels (federalism is a must). It would be easy for them to respond to the specific recommendations that the committee suggests. It can give an understanding of the nature and objectives of the Constitution and make it easier to understand how the sections are
3
General Report of the Independent Commission on the Federal Constitution
the different parts of the Constitution. The report also gives them an idea of the path taken by the committee, the different things they analyzed and the compromises that were necessary to reach an understanding.
The committee also predicts that the report can be an important tool to be used for public awareness, therefore it provides an analysis of the constitutional issues and the institutions and options based on the QDLD.
4
General Report of the Independent Commission on the Federal Constitution
Part I
Constitution Making Process
The Somali Reconciliation Conference held in 2002-2004, supported by the Government Agency for Development Affairs (IGAD), and facilitated by the Government of Kenya, resulted in the implementation of the Transitional Federal Agreement (the "Agreement"). in 2004. The Transitional Charter stipulates that within 90 days of the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government, an independent Commission on the Constitution and Federal Affairs ("DFK") will be created. The members of the committee are proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers and appointed by the President of Somalia. The agreement requires the DFK and the board to establish a federal system within two and a half years. The committee actually proposed detailed principles regarding the Federal structure, institutions and the distribution of their powers (which are briefly presented in the report).
Independent Commission on Constitutional and Federal Affairs
The establishment of the Independent Commission for Constitutional and Federal Affairs (GMDF) was authorized by the Transitional Charter (Article 11 Paragraph 5). Additional provisions are contained in Law L. BFK/1/193/06, which was approved by Parliament on June 10, 2006, and at the same time the President