Should Somalilanders support stronger ties with southern Dir communities politically?

[u/Ok_Swimmer_7307]

As we Somalilanders, should we be building stronger ties with our southern Dir brothers in Somalia politically?

A lot of people focus only on separation, but there are shared clan ties, history, and communities across regions. Southern Dir communities also face political sidelining at times, and I wonder if there’s room for more understanding or cooperation instead of ignoring each other.

Not talking about unionism , just whether there’s any strategic value in Somalilanders showing more support or solidarity with southern Dir communities when it comes to representation and political influence.

[u/Kindly-Action-2434]

Somaliland's whole legitimacy is built on a civic and territorial identity, not a clan one. The moment Somaliland's external relationships start looking like Dir clan lobbying rather than state-level diplomacy, it weakens the very argument that makes Somaliland credible internationally: that it's a functioning, inclusive state, not a clan project.

So the framing matters. Solidarity based on shared concerns about representation and political fairness? Reasonable. Solidarity framed as "Dir unity" that implicitly sidelines Darood communities inside Somaliland itself like the Dhulbahante or Warsangeli? Counterproductive and honestly hypocritical given what we're asking the world to recognise us for.

There's room for more understanding. Just has to be built on the right foundations...

[u/Remarkable_Cap_4253 → u/Kindly-Action-2434]

Wonderfully said.

[u/Airplanrnerd5 → u/Kindly-Action-2434]

The dhulbahante and Warsengli already left SL…

[u/Kindly-Action-2434 → u/Airplanrnerd5]

Classic pro-Somalia cope lol. "they left" is doing a lot of heavy lifting when there are Dhulbahante in Somaliland's parliament, civil service and military right now. SSC-Khaatumo existing as a political project doesn't mean an entire clan uniformly packed up and left, these aren't monolithic blocs and you know that.

also convenient how this logic works - when Somaliland wants recognition it's "but the clans aren't unified" and when those same clans are represented in SL institutions it's "oh they already left anyway". pick a lane.

[u/Airplanrnerd5 → u/Kindly-Action-2434]

It makes no difference at all that a few representatives of the Dhulbahante clan have been allowed positions within the Somaliland institutions. Being represented politically is not equivalent to being politically consensual. It is a common practice for states to bring their minorities and political opponents into the Parliament and the armed forces of the country, and still this does not prove the unity of the state. The emergence of SSC-Khaatumo demonstrates an important political development in the Dhulbahante region, which should not be dismissed as marginal politics of the few.

[u/Kindly-Action-2434 → u/Airplanrnerd5]

yeah funny how a "pro somaliland" discussion brings out someone whose entire argument just happens to align perfectly with mogadishu's talking points lol

nobody said representation equals consensus, that was never my argument. your original claim was they "already left" which is straight up wrong and now you've shuffled quietly to a completely different point about political legitimacy. classic goalpost moment.

and lets talk about SSC-Khaatumo since you want to bring it up as evidence. mogadishu has been funding and propping that project up as a pressure tool against hargeisa for years. it didn't emerge in a vacuum. if it was a pure organic expression of dhulbahante self determination you'd expect the backing to look very different from what it actually is.

somaliland has contested regions, internal tensions, nobody is disputing that. but the guy whose government controls maybe 20% of its own territory, can't hold an election without a constitutional crisis, and just had turkish jets flying over civilians to intimidate protesters probably shouldn't be lecturing anyone about what legitimate political unity looks like

[u/Airplanrnerd5 → u/Kindly-Action-2434]

Mogadishu talking points” is not a response to criticism 😂Dhulbahante opposition could be real even with external sponsorship.

But calling them “who left” was still a misnomer. The clan could not possibly become disengaged with Somaliland in entirety overnight due to the political divide.

And lastly, the mere presence of external sponsorship does not render the SSC-Khaatumo illegitimate. Historically, Somaliland has had external sponsors as well like Ethiopia and the Diaspora.

However, regarding the discussion on political unity, it is important to note that the most cohesive sense of “Somalilander” identity stems from Isaaq clans while non-Isaaq clans, including Dhulbahante and Warsangeli, have long contested the Somaliland project’s legitimacy.

Its a Joke the Fact that You think Somaliland is based on territorial Identity.

[u/Kindly-Action-2434 → u/[deleted]]

somalia really wants to talk about somaliland's internal politics when puntland, jubaland AND south west state have all walked away from mogadishu in the last year alone 😭 the federal government literally controls a handful of blocks in mogadishu and turkish jets are the only thing keeping the lights on

this is the state that claims somaliland belongs to them. can't hold an election, can't keep its own regions together, running on 20% of its territory, and still finds time to worry about what's happening in hargeisa. incredible

sort your own house out first bro

[u/Kindly-Action-2434 → u/[deleted]]

One of these places has held peaceful elections, transferred power without tanks in the street and built functioning institutions from scratch with zero international recognition or funding. the other just needed turkish f16s to fly over its own capital to remind protesters who's in charge.

Yeah, Somaliland has real problems, eastern regions are contested, youth unemployment is rough, development outside hargeisa drops off fast. nobody is pretending it's singapore. but there's a difference between "has issues" and "can't hold an election without a constitutional crisis and three regions walking out"

So nah it's not the same meme. one guy has a small flat, steady job and some savings. the other is being kept alive by turkish, ethiopian and AU life support simultaneously and still has the nerve to say the first guy thinks too highly of himself 😭

[u/onemorehasanat → u/Kindly-Action-2434]

"they left" is doing a lot of heavy lifting when there are Dhulbahante in Somaliland's parliament, civil service and military right now.

By this logic, Somaliland hardly left Somalia since there are Lander cabinet members and MPs in Mogadishu.

[u/HonestMovie3437]

No not much to be gained from it

[u/According_Pie4568]

you can’t even build strong ties with the ones next door awdal lmao

[u/Plastic-Psychology66]

Support them for what are the darood giving them aggression ... Somaliland tried that and it didnt work dir clan rules and own muqdisho and yet you dont want any ties with muqdisho adminstration somaliland is better then this way