CNN on the somaliland elections

[Khalid Ali]

CNN) -- A polarized Somalia marked its 50th anniversary of freedom from colonial rule Saturday with bullets on one end of the country and ballots on the other.

The northwestern region of Somaliland, a former British colony, held a presidential election, while the president of the Transitional Federal Government in the south, a former Italian colony, gave a solemn address in the face of a continuing Islamist insurgency and nearly two decades as a failed state.

Voters lined up at polling stations under tight security in Somaliland where more than 1 million people had registered to cast their ballots, according to the chairman of the electoral commission, Ise Yusuf Mohamed.

Security measures included a 12-hour ban on all vehicles without special permits, Mohamed said. The measures were enforced amid fresh threats of violence going into Saturday's voting by Al-Shabab, the primary Islamist group leading an insurgency in and around Mogadishu in the country's south.

In an audio message to local media, the group's leader, Sheik Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr -- himself a descendant of Somaliland -- called democracy "the Devil's principles" and warned people in Somaliland not to adopt it.

Al-Shabab militants attacked Somaliland and the neighboring semi-autonomous region of Puntland with simultaneous suicide blasts in October 2008 that killed at least 24 people.

But there were no reports of political violence in Somaliland on Saturday, according to the electoral commission.

"I am so happy that we are voting democratically, and I hope that the election will end peacefully," said current President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the ruling party UDUD after casting his vote in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.

Kahin is opposed by two other candidates.

Meanwhile, reports of violence in Mogadishu formed the backdrop of a presidential address in the war-torn south to mark the 50th anniversary of Somalia's independence. Local media reported that government troops were battling al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist insurgents in the capital Saturday.

President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called the day a "time for reflection on the fate of Somalia," according to a press release from a presidential spokesman.

Ahmed called on Somalis "to raise the Somali flag in their houses, cars, and offices so that the enemies of Somalia would know the love for our country and our people is still alive," according to the release.

Addressing the "political quagmire of the past three decades," Ahmed said that "the Somali people are squarely responsible of the unprecedented predicament that our nation is in and it is up to us to right the wrongs of the past, otherwise we could perish as a nation," according to the release.

The northwestern region of Somaliland achieved independence from Britain on June 26, 1960, followed by the rest of Somalia, which became independent of Italy five days later on July 1, 1960, and joined Somaliland to form the state of Somalia.

After the fall of Somali dictator Siad Barre in 1991, Somaliland declared its separation from Somalia, according to the CIA World Factbook. Somaliland has yet to receive international diplomatic recognition as a state but has achieved a level of security and stability unmatched in the rest of Somalia.

Southern Somalia has not seen a stable government since the fall of the dictatorship and has been mired in civil war since its fall. The ongoing conflict has resulted in "an unprecedented humanitarian crisis," according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

"In May (2010), the fighting intensified in Mogadishu and displaced more than 270,000 people, causing the number of internally displaced persons to reach 1.5 million people," according to a report on the UNHCR website.


Source CNN

[Somalistan]

"bullets on one end and ballots on the other" pretty much sums it up!

[senoritaa]

I really hope the incoming government of Somaliland take a lead on helping our hawiye brothers and sisters in the south.
First and foremost we need to take responsibility for the nutcases like ina godane and his fellow isaaq terrorists in the South. How dare they fight with the government in Somalia?

I really hope the incoming administration whoever they are realise that WE need to do something about these isaaq terrorist animals making life hell for our brothers in the south

[Cirwaaq]

I really hope the incoming government of Somaliland take a lead on helping our hawiye brothers and sisters in the south.
First and foremost we need to take responsibility for the nutcases like ina godane and his fellow isaaq terrorists in the South. How dare they fight with the government in Somalia?

I really hope the incoming administration whoever they are realise that WE need to do something about these isaaq terrorist animals making life hell for our brothers in the south

We also need a some self love and self believe. We need to demonstrate that we are capable of managing our own affairs. We need to reject the idiology of those that have been rejected from other parts of africa and rely on our own home grown intelect and nurture it.

Who ever fails in P.land or S.land politics seems to find a home in Konfur politics. Who ever is chased out of P.land or S.land seems to find a place in konfur to then cause us death and destruction.

Who would have thought in Godane after he was exiled from S.land and we gave him a home that he would become the biggest cancer on our land?

Who would have thought that the freaks in p.land who have a standing policy of "Our land P.land is Mj and your land is our land" would undermine every effort made to establish peace.

We are desperate for a change of idiology a change requiring political maturity and that requires self love and a konfur centred agenda. we need to level the playing fields and begin a campaign specific to konfur interests.

Somaliweyn card is played out:- it is merely a back enterance for failed polititians to steal AID money from the starving refugees.

[oldenglish]

Ciraaq besha Hawiye needs to reconcile with Warsangeli and let them run the country, solving Somalia.

[Goljano Lion]

Ciraaq besha Hawiye needs to reconcile with Warsangeli and let them run the country, solving Somalia.

Since you have MPD “multiple personality disorder” do you have any Hawiye personality?

[senoritaa]

Cirwaaq,

I agree with you but I would like to see s/land take action against ina godane, he is a terrorist, he is hindering peace in the south, he threatens s/land and ultimatley he comes from s/land so we are also responsible for this monster.

[SahanGalbeed]

Ciraaq besha Hawiye needs to reconcile with Warsangeli and let them run the country, solving Somalia.

Since you have MPD “multiple personality disorder” do you have any Hawiye personality?

Ceeb socota weeye bahalkaasi walle

[Somalian_Boqor]

Horta wax lu ku faano iyo wax leh ba kala jeero and this stupid iidoor crossed it!

Talk about Hatred, and insecurity. Making fun and actually enjoying the blight of the status quo of Mogadishu for a little faan.

[Siciid85]

^^^ Snake Alert.