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| December 26 2002 By A. Samaale The much-awaited and most contested municipal election in Somaliland has just been concluded peacefully. The election results declared by the election commission on 22 December depict a wide margin won of the ruling party - UDUB. The Allied People’s Democratic Party (UDUB)[i] was formed as a new political party by the late president Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, in July 2001. The municipal elections were held in all the five regions constituting the self-declared Somaliland State, although no voting took place in some parts of the Sool region. President Tahir Riyale of Somaliland and his entourage came under attack while touring Las Anod town, the capital of the Sool region, early this month. In a BBC Somali Service interview, the minister of interior of Puntland claimed the responsibility for the assault on president Riyale’s party. The election took place in an atmosphere full of optimism for the future and without a hitch. In what appears to be out of character with the politics of recrimination, the parties contesting the election desisted from indulging in mutual mud-slinging. Six political parties, including the ruling party, have contested for the control of key municipalities that could significantly influence both the presidential and parliament elections scheduled for next year. According to the constitution, only the first three parties that won the lion’s share of the popular vote qualifies for the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January and March 2003, respectively. In the final count of the votes, the ruling party, UDUB, come out with flying colours, winning the majority of the votes cast, while KULMIYE and UCID, came second and third, respectively. UDUB’s resounding triumph over its archrival, KULMIYE, serves a significant boost for President Riyale’s popularity. The decisive outcome of the municipal election gives an undisputed competitive edge to UDUB and enhances President Riyale’s chances for winning the upcoming presidential race. The election results are as tabulated below. The first three parts have technically qualified for and are officially sanctioned to contest in the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. Arrangements for municipal elections in Somaliland have been over shadowed in the past by intermittent political bickering between the late president Egal and a loose grouping of clan leaders and emergent political parties, which resulted in the postponement of the process for a period of one year. On 12 January 2002, the House of Elders of the breakaway State of Somaliland extended the term of the office of the then incumbent president Egal for additional one year. This extension was made to provide the opposition parties time to prepare for the scheduled multi-party elections. Mr. Egal, a Habar Awal clansman and former Prime Minister of Somali Republic, was elected as president in 1993 for a period of three years, defeating the incumbent president Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tur of the Habar Yonis clan. In 1996, his term of office was again extended for a period of five years, which was due on February 2002. In a remarkably smooth transition of power, Mr. Tahir Riyale Kahin, the former vice president, assumed the office of the presidency on May 2002, after the sudden death of Egal. The self-declared state of Somaliland, north-western Somalia, declared unilateral independence on 18 May 1991, although no country has recognised it. It consists of five administrative regions (zones) occupied by different clans, i.e., Awdal (Gadabursi and Issa, predominantly Gadabursi), Southwest (Issaq, predominantly Habar Awal) Togdheer (Habaryonis, Habarje’lo, Issa Muse (Issaq) and Dhulbahante (Darod), Sanaag (Habaryonis, Habarje’lo (Issaq), Warsengeli and Dhulbahante (Darod), and Sool (Dhulbahante). The five regions cover the territory of the former British Somaliland. Throughout much of the period since its self-declared independence, Somaliland has been an oasis of stability. Somaliland is governed by a Cabinet of Ministers and a bicameral parliament comprising the House of the Representatives and the House of Elders (the Guurti), with an independent judiciary practising a mixture of Sharia and British civil laws. The prevailing stability and ongoing recovery process in Somaliland has largely been nurtured and sustained by a thriving business enterprise. The business enterprise is the backbone of the local economy and, by extension, the machinery that has been the generator of employment opportunities for the general population. The business establishment, the economic base of Somaliland, has been badly hurt by the drawn out arbitrary and unjustified ban imposed on Somali livestock export by Saudi Arabia. Today, Somaliland is the only country in the world with an efficiently functioning central government, a national anthem and flag, currency, public schools, post office, police force and an army, laws and judiciary system and a budget, yet bereft of international recognition of its sovereign independence, for which it certainly deserves and qualifies outright. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [i] UDUB (meaning pillar) is the Somali acronym for the Allied People’s Democratic Party. [ii] Tahir Riyale Kahin hails from the Reer Dudub sub-lineage of the Gadabursi (Samaroon) clan, which is the predominant clan in the Awdal region of Somaliland. Mr. Riyale Kahin is the first non-Issaq to assume the office of the presidency of the breakaway republic of Somaliland. His ascension to power has played a positive catalyst role in the determined efforts of Somaliland’s administration towards winning the heart and minds of the non-Issaq clans of Somaliland. [iii] Mr. Silanyo has been a former minister in Siad Barre’s regime. Later, in late eighties, he became the head of the Somali National Movement (SNM). A long-standing grievance in Northwestern region climaxed with the creation of the Somali National Movement (SNM) by group of Issaq politicians residing overseas, in 1981. In mid eighties, the SNM became the strongest of the various armed opposition movements against Siad Barre’s regime. Mr. Silanyo enjoys popular support across all sections of the Somaliland society, though his power-base is in the east of the country. He particularly hails support from the remnants of the now defunct SNM, who have been reeling with nostalgia ever since they put the Siad Barre’s army to rout and are yet to acclimatize to the non-violent routines of a civilian life. [1] UDUB (meaning pillar) is the Somali acronym for the Allied People’s Democratic Party. [1] Tahir Riyale Kahin hails from the Reer Dudub sub-lineage of the Gadabursi (Samaroon) clan, which is the predominant clan in the Awdal region of Somaliland. Mr. Riyale Kahin is the first non-Issaq to assume the office of the presidency of the breakaway republic of Somaliland. His ascension to power has played a positive catalyst role in the determined efforts of Somaliland’s administration towards winning the heart and minds of the non-Issaq clans of Somaliland. [1] Mr. Silanyo has been a former minister in Siad Barre’s regime. Later, in late eighties, he became the head of the Somali National Movement (SNM). A long-standing grievance in Northwestern region climaxed with the creation of the Somali National Movement (SNM) by group of Issaq politicians residing overseas, in 1981. In mid eighties, the SNM became the strongest of the various armed opposition movements against Siad Barre’s regime. Mr. Silanyo enjoys popular support across all sections of the Somaliland society, though his power-base is in the east of the country. He particularly hails support from the remnants of the now defunct SNM, who have been reeling with nostalgia ever since they put the Siad Barre’s army to rout and are yet to acclimatize to the non-violent routines of a civilian life. |
| Multiparty elections In Somaliland – another positive development for Somaliland’s quest for recognised statehood. |
| Political party Party Leader/Clan affiliation Polled votes UDUB Tahir Riyale Kahin[ii] Gadabursi 179,389 Kulmiye Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo[iii] Habarje’lo (Issaq) 83,143 UCID Faysal Ali Waraabe-Iidagale (Issaq) 49,444 SAHAN Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabboose -Habar-yonis (Issaq) 47,794 HORMUD Omer Arte Ghalib -Sa’ad Muse (Issaq) 40,538 ASAD Suleiman Mohamed Adan -Habarje’lo (Issaq) 39,596 Total votes 439,904 |
