Somaliland: Rayale impeachment gains traction in parliament

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Somaliland: Rayale impeachment gains traction in parliament

05 August 2009 | News

 

 

Hargeisa, Somaliland (Somaliland Globe)- Representative Dr. Ahmed Abdi Kinjande has delivered Tuesday during a parliamentary debate an uncharacteristically stinging attack on the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Somaliland over its recent decision to abandon the voter registration list, which he described as tantamount to “high treason”.

 

The decision by the NEC to consign the voter registration list into the dustbin is contrary to the letter and spirit of Somaliland’ Electoral Law and flies in the face of the tripartite agreement signed by the major political parties including president Rayale’ ruling party, UDUB, analysts believe.

 

Dr. Kijande (Kul-BG) congratulated the leaders of the two houses of Somaliland’s parliament for their high moral courage and patriotic duty to condemn the decision by the NEC to abandon voter registration list as well as president Rayale’s unilateral decision to expel Interpeace, the agency responsible for the democratisation and electoral process and representative of donor countries to Somaliland.

 

 

Dr. Kijande said such actions, particularly the decision to kick all donor countries out of the country, would only serve to conspire against Somaliland’s quest for international recognition and would pose existential threat to Somaliland at a time the country desperately need more friends.

 

“The president does not seem to grasp that a free and fair election is one based on the use of voter registration list,” said Dr. Kijande.

 

Dr. Kijande also lashed out at Rayale for his tragic failure to resolve the simmering tension in El-Bardaleh, where four innocent men lost their lives last month following the eruption of violence between the president’s clan and another clan.

 

“I have yet to hear from the president as to what he will do about the tension prevailing in El-Bardaleh area,” Dr. Kijande said during the parliamentary debate.

 

Dr. Kijande called upon fellow MPs to impeach and remove Rayale from office.

 

Representative Ibrahim Dhaadheere (UDUB-OW), former Speaker of the House, not only concurred the idea of impeachment and removal of Dahir Rayale from office but also advised president Rayale to step down willingly or face impeachment.

 

Representative Mohammed Nur Arrale Duur (UDUB-OW) called for the immediate impeachment of Rayale while Representative Farhan Mohamed Ali (UDUB-EA) said, “President Dahir Rayale Kahin and Jama Mohamed Omer, chairman of the NEC, had jointly agreed to overthrow the Republic of Somaliland”. Both should be impeached, he added.

 

Former health minister and head of the UDUB party reformists, Abdillahi Hussein Iman Darawal, called president Rayale’s unilateral decision to expel donor countries

 

“high treason”.

 

The two leaders of Somaliland’s House of Parliament also condemned president Rayale’s decision to expel donor countries.

 

There are growing calls for the impeachment of Dahir Rayale Kahin within Somaliland parliament particularly from UDUB party ranks.

 

A high-voltage acrimony between president Dahir Rayale Kahin and NEC on one side, and the opposition political parties and the two Houses of parliament on the other side, over the abandonment of registration list and subsequent expulsion of Interpeace from the country continues to prevail in the political landscape of Somaliland.

 

Somaliland Globe