First, I welcome any positive development that can improve Somalia’s fragile situation. It is important to strengthen national unity, hold inclusive elections, and ensure that no process is captured by one group. The Somali people deserve a government that serves them all.
It is, however, deeply concerning that Puntland, after six years of political isolation and exclusion from the federal state-building process, is now being used as a platform for southern politicians to launch election campaigns. Puntland, which faces its own internal challenges, cannot afford to be turned into a battleground for political projects whose outcomes remain uncertain.
The people of Puntland should not be forced again onto the destructive path of 2021–2022. The isolation and controversial elections of that period brought not only economic loss but also inflicted long-term damage on Puntland’s political culture, its clan power-sharing balance, and its respected traditional norms. These scars have not yet healed. For Puntland to now become a stage for external political contests is a grave insult to its wisdom and leadership.
Puntland cannot be reduced to the campaign base of southern politicians who, once they achieve their ambitions, leave Puntland’s citizens with nothing in return. This approach risks repeating a cycle of exploitation and marginalization.
It is also necessary to question the legality of Puntland, as a functioning state government, becoming part of an opposition bloc whose sole purpose is to weaken the sitting president in Mogadishu. Such involvement blurs institutional boundaries and undermines Puntland’s credibility as a state.
Puntland’s priority should be addressing its own pressing internal needs, safeguarding its stability, and ensuring its people are not sacrificed for external political agendas.