SOMALILAND ELECTION: AN ACCOUNT OF A CLOSE OBSERVER

[fagash_killer]

The people of Somaliland, regardless of the naysayer
apprehension that there would be no fair and free
election in this internationally isolated infant
nation has demonstrated a will of steel rooted on
their determination to reclaim their independence from
the quagmire in Somalia proper. They put their best
foot forward to elect newly minted parliament soon to
be sworn in. Now, that it is in place, the whole
nation is eagerly expecting it to deliver the promised
recognition and prosperity, not withstanding their
party colours and tribal affiliation.

The government of Somaliland spearheaded by its cool
headed president, Honourable Dahir Rayale Kahin as he
promised to his people after he assumed the office
pursued this long and tough democratization process
with immense vigour. To the amazement of many he did
not disappoint and the parliament election of
Somaliland has just occurred out there, the world to
see it, to complete the democratization circle. Even
though it is not perfect, yet this endeavor sets a
good example of how an indigenous peace process can
set the wheels of democracy moving in the right
direction. It helps the young and the elderly to
contribute to their country’s political direction
through the ballot box (sack in this case).

This exercise was not painless. There were many pumps
on the road leading to it. However, it was achieved on
the visionary leadership of the president, hard work
of his cabinet, nonpartisan election commission,
support of the opposition party leaders and the never
flailing will of the general public. My hat is off to
you all, you made it possible! Cool heads have
prevailed over the skeptical elements among us at the
moment of need; differences were solved on the table
rather than in the battle field and all political
leaders have shown their maturity at sometime or the
other.

Having said that let me express my humble opinion
about how the political parties and their leadership
faired during the election campaign. Please, be
advised that during the campaign electability criteria
was not pegged on the candidate’s or party’s political
agenda or plan but on some other issues such as: a)
candidate’s clan base or lineage b) loyalty to the
leader or party c) individual economic power (Khat) d)
personality e) education and past performance… etc.
To say the least the following were traits of the
parties and their leaders during the campaign:

As we are all aware of UDUB is the party in power in
Somaliland. The president of the nation is also the
leader of the party and it has had a deep rooted mass
following among the people in all regions of
Somaliland. Despite, its popularity the party did not
do well in the election as was expected due to
different reasons. To name a few of its short comings:
Its campaign managers might have rested heavily on
their past glory or they badly underestimated the
tenacity, determination and cunningness of the
opposition leaders. Additionally, the president did
not show the energy required during the campaign in
order to generate some momentum for his party.
Similarly, the vice president created a faux pas of
his own in Borama when he claimed, “it is a sin to get
opposition members elected in Sahil and Awdal
regions”. This might have cost his party a few seats
in both those regions and elsewhere. On the top of all
some cabinet ministers did not endear themselves to
the electorate and there were alleged mismanagement in
the preliminary candidate screening process that
annoyed some of the traditionally loyal clans.

KULMIYE was the most active political party in the
campaign. Ahmed **** made a whirlwind tour in all
the eastern, southern and central regions urging the
population in those areas to elect his party members
to the new assembly. In my view, though Ahmed’s appeal
might have paid off in some regions, but his right
wing deputies and the so called militant media
undermined his efforts in some of the regions; their
conspiracy theories did not bear any dividends for his
party in those regions where the people felt
threatened. On the other hand, it is still unknown how
many extra seats the party picked up in the capital
region. Nevertheless, Ahmed **** has shown signs
of elder statesmanship by personally avoiding the
mudsling, but he never made any efforts to restrain
his deputies and his xenophobic mouth pieces at least
in public. One can only wonder why a national party
would endorse an act of alienation against certain
region or group of people. What it appears at the
outset is it did not matter as long as he was not
personally doing it, but it sounds to be a dereliction
of his responsibility to all the Somalilanders.

Faisal Ali Warabe, the UCID party leader toured almost
all the regions of Somaliland to present his party’s
case to the electorate. His party has made successful
inroads in previously difficult regions and it emerged
as serious contender, but its problems were two
pronged. First, many of his candidates were either
returning expatriates who were not familiar with the
nuts and bolts of Somaliland politics or third string
clan nominees who did not have good political weight.
Secondly, Faisal Ali during the election appeared to
have abandoned his left centre political ideology in
favour of far right stand which was characterized by
vengeful personal attacks on the president and
partisan rhetoric.

Faisal also put his foot in his mouth in number of
occasions. For instance, when the hoax ballot papers
were caught at Hargeisa Airport, he went on the air
immediately and he called for the president’s blood
(where else would you call for the head of state’s
blood and you get away with it?! It only happens in
Somaliland!), however what he was not aware of was
that there were no fake ballot papers to begin with
and amazingly enough the accused was one of his own
party members. That clearly, exposed his party’s lack
of coordination. To top it all, on the ballot day his
party was so disarrayed to the level, they could not
send their representatives to some polling regions.

In conclusion our democratic system has its own
limitations, but it is a good start on which we can
build on. It needs a strong legislation in areas of
land dispute; finance; better election code of
conduct; media code of conduct that makes it
responsible for what it publishes; charter of rights
and freedoms that protects all of us equally
regardless of our region of origin and clan
affiliation; power sharing laws in the three levels of
governance (central, regional and municipal). All
these and more are expected from the new assembly!

After the dust settles, the winner of this election is
the people of Somaliland. They expressed their desire
to be governed by the rule of law through their own
elected president and parliament. As was clear in this
election people forgive but they never forget and I
can pet you their expectation is really very high.
May Allah be on the side of the new parliamentarians
and bestow on them the wisdom to work for those who
sent them to Hargeisa.

[*HannaH*]

Mashallah man, you guys should actually see the place it's so,so peaceful and safe.I mean what other African country can you walk down the street and not worry about being jacked for everything you've got?That alone, is priceless!!!.....they make me soooooooooo proud. Those Somalilanders have heart.

[fagash_killer]

HANNA TRUE TRUE

HOE GAAT HET SCHATJE

[*HannaH*]

Groot, dank u voor het vragen.

[Dhaga Bacayl]