Mohamed Osman Jawari is a Somali lawyer and politician. He had a stint as the acting President of Somalia between August and September 2012. Presently, Jawari is the incumbent Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia.
Background
Mohamed Osman Jawari was born on the 7th of December 1945 in Afgooye, a town in Somalia. He belongs to a family that is of the Rahanwen clan. Originally, Jawari hails from the Southern Bay and Bakool regions, which is now part of the Southwestern State of Somalia.
Besides Somali, Jawrai is a multilingual who is fluent in English, Italian, Norwegian and Arabic. This is due to his exposed lifestyle.
Education
Upon completing his primary and secondary education, Jawari proceeded to the Somali National University in Mogadishu where he graduated with a degree in Law.
Career
Mohamed Osman Jawari is an Attorney by profession. Politically, he has served as the minister of Transportation and mister of Labor and Sport under President Siad Barre led Administration.
Jawari relocated to Norway in 1991 after the civil war broke out. After spending about a decade in Norway, he returned back to Somalia in the 2000s.
Subsequently, he was elected to chair the committee of specialist with a mandate to restructure Somalia's constitution. Jawari versed experience as a legal expert played a key role, working alondside UN officials. The constitution was eventually adopted in July 2012.
Jawari presented himself in 2012 as a candidate in the first elections for a Speaker of the Federal Parliament to take place within Somalia in two decades. In the televised and radio-broadcast parliamentary session held on 28 August 2012 at the Gen. Kahiye Police Academy near the Mogadishu International Airport, Jawari beat four other candidates for the post, all of whom had previously served as government ministers during the transitional uring the transitional period. The hopefuls included AThe hopefuls included Abdiabshir Abdullahi, Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig, Hassan Abshir Farah and Ali Khalif Galeyr, a former Prime Minister in the Transitional National Government. Jawari received 119 votes during the first round of ballots versus 77 votes for Galeyr, who placed second. Galeyr subsequently withdrew from the race prior to the second round run-off and congratulated Jawari, who was then named the new Parliamentary Speaker.
As Speaker of Parliament, Jawari also briefly served as acting President of Somalia while the parliament elected a new leader. On 30 August 2012, the Federal Parliament convened and unanimously endorsed a new committee tasked with overseeing the presidential elections. At the parliamentary session chaired by Jawari, 15 MPs were named to the body, with former acting Speaker Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle appointed as the commission's chairperson. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud then succeeded Jawari as President, having been elected on 10 September 2012 and inaugurated into office six days later.
Religion
Mr. Jawari is described as a moderate Islamist. According to the BBC Somali Service's Abdirahman Koronto, " Mr Jawari gained huge support because he has not been embroiled in the religious and clan-based conflicts that have hit Somalia over the past 21 years."
Politics
His political views are seen from the plans and structures he has laid down for his country. Jawari launches groundbreaking social reconciliation programme to ‘reknit the social fabric of Somalia’. The new initative, Quraca Nabadda, aims to achieve grassroots social reconciliation through arts, culture and media.
The event was sponsored by the Somali Ambassador in Embassy in Kenya, H.E. Mohamed Ali Nur (Americo). Who emphasised that one of the ways to revive Somalia is to engage the youth in Somali culture and arts.
Quraca Nabadda (the tree of peace in Somali) is the tree under which Somalis traditionally come together to solve their problems, as well as to celebrate.
The Quraca Nabadda is a partnership between the Federal Government and a coalition of Somali civil society organizations. As part of the project they will deliver over 3000 intensive 3-month reconciliation sessions in villages across Somalia, establish regional cultural centres to nurture the arts and unleash a wave of financial and technical support for the media.
Views
According to Jawari, Political crisis are part of democratic system of governance but it can be avoided or properly managed by good quality leadership that adheres to the rule of law, good policy, and to a well-defined, transparent procedures, and practices in order to have a trustworthy government.
Quotations:
"I am honored to have been selected as the first speaker of a [Somali] parliament that is not transitional and I hope we can be a parliament that serves the people it represents[...] The election was held in a transparent way and I hope that Somalia will continue elections that are held in a democratic way[...] I am confident that this parliament will help Somalia achieve positive changes in security and governance."
“The fact is that (the) Kenyan authorities have behaved atrociously with the Somali diplomat. He even showed the police his identity as a diplomat but still they didn’t respect him. These provocative and unlawful acts are not acceptable to this Parliament and are not acceptable to the Somali people. They cannot be ignored."
“We will not accept such intolerable attacks by Kenyan security on our diplomatic mission. I urge the Cabinet to send an urgent complaint letter to Kenya and ask why their forces have done such barbaric raid and arrest of the Somali consular."
Personality
He is often described as a man with great innovations and charisma. He is known to be a person with a superior communication skills, able to interact easily with others in a non-confrontational nature. He is simple, an educated Somali with a lengthy public service record.
Physical Characteristics:
He is Slim and tall.
Quotes from others about the person
Musse Hassa Abdulle: "After a successful election which was conducted in a transparent way, I declare... Mohamed Osman Jawari to be the speaker of the Somali parliament."
Sakawdin Mohamed: "It is undeniable that the election of Professor Jawari is a considerable improvement on the previous speakers as he is an educated person with in depth knowledge and considerable experience in the management of state affairs. In the past he had worked as a minister in the military regime and recently had done a tremendous work on Somali constitution."