The Public Resists Capitulation In The Face Of Arrests, Intimidation

[N.O.R.F]

The Public Resists Capitulation In The Face Of Arrests, Intimidation

 

Police in Somaliland sought to detain Abiib Diriye Nur, a former minister and prominent SNM veteran, but his private security prevented the police from entering his house. This most likely is part of ongoing intimidation of the opposition political parties by increasingly confrontational Riyale administration. But will Riyale win concession through harassment or will the opposition withstand the threats for the sake of restoring democracy in Somaliland?

 

The attempted arrest of Mr. Nur, who served as the Aviation Minister before resigning from the president Riyale’s administration in July 2005, is the latest of numerous ill advised threats by Riyale administration to achieve political concession from the opposition.

 

In his resignation, just months before parliamentary elections were held in 2005, Mr. Nur cited Riyale’s take over of the selection process of UDUB candidates for the parliament as the main reason for stepping down from his post. He later joined the opposition KULMIYE party.

 

The actual reason for the attempted arrest of Mr. Nur, late in the evening on Tuesday, was not publicized but the police has been taking orders to arrest opposition figures. No other legitimate reasons are believed to exist for the attempted arrest.

 

Somaliland’s police chief, Mohamed Saqadhi Dubad, denied a widely held view that the arrest order came directly from or with the knowledge of Mr. Riyale. However, less than a week ago the police chief led a heavily armed force composed of regular police and the presidential guards which stormed the Parliament building in violation of the law and the integrity of the Parliament.

 

Mr. Dubad then told the MPs who protested the presence of the armed police in the parliament building, that he had orders from his superiors even thought he refused to divulge any information that may incriminate Mr. Riyale as the person ordering the invasion. The order came from the Interior Minister Abdillahi Ismail Ali (Cirro) or from president Riyale or his vice-president Ahmed Yusuf Yassin. In any case an order given to the police chief by any of these individuals is politically motivated one.

 

It is well known that several informal meetings were taking place at the presidential palace chaired by Riyale and participated by his most loyal ministers. Mr. Dubad is frequently summoned by the president to his palace specially to be given specific instructions. The order to storm the Parliament came as a result of instructions the police chief received the previous night at the presidential palace if not directly from Riyale then certainly with his blessing.

 

Mr. Riyale whose 5-year elected term ended in May 2008, used the Upper House of parliament to controversially extend his tenure twice. It is however unlikely that he will get anymore extensions this time since the Upper House of parliament expressly stated that it will not give him anymore extensions beyond October 2009 when their most recent six-month-term-exten sion comes to an end.

 

The current roadblock to democracy started in July, barely 60 days prior to the date of the presidential election, when Riyale unilaterally declared that the voter registration list is to be shelved and will not be used for the upcoming election. A move that is unlawful and undoubtedly stands on flimsy legal grounds, contravenes the Electoral Law and breaks an agreement which all parties reached last year.

 

The very reason the election was postponed on numerous previous occasions was because Somaliland needed to register illegible citizens as the Electoral Laws required to avoid vote-rigging and to protect the integrity of the election. Barring a meltdown of the entire political system or other unforeseen catastrophic event occurring, with his ever declining popularity Riyale faces a certain landslide defeat at the ballot box . The only way he possibly can avert such a defeat is to adopt a strategy from which only he stands to gain and everyone else loses, that is to open the door for vote-rigging and election manipulation by utilizing the entire government machinery and resources in his favor.

 

Should Riyale have it his way and voter registration list be dropped altogether, with the way Riyale already micro-manages the political activities of the regional administrations across the country, and by experience from previous elections, it is not unthinkable that huge numbers of untraceable votes in favor of his party turn up at the close of the polls.

 

It is certain that a massive vote-rigging in favor of Riyale will take place if voter registration list is dropped, in which case the neither the opposition nor the public has any confidence in the discredited Supreme Court (which also acts as the Constitutional Court) for recourse. Even with massive rigging if Riyale can not offset the overwhelming popularity of the two opposition parties which will also be competing against one another, he will involve the Courts asking them to annul the election. The Courts have never ruled against Riyale even when his position directly contravened the constitution. Any court decision will be a repetition of its 2003 decision for which the judges (all appointed by Riyale) never gave any explanation of how they mysteriously arrived at their verdict which increased Riyale’s margin from 80 to 217 votes.

 

Riyale believes that by applying a constant pressure including arrests of opposition figures and supporters, the opposition will eventually capitulate and fall in line with his demand for an election that is open to fraud and manipulation, or at least even if the opposition withstands the pressure he will stay on in power with or without another term extension thus buying few more months.

 

In the meantime the arrests and the intimidation continue across the country. A court in the eastern region of Sool sentenced Awil Ismail Farah, UCID party’s Secretary in the region to six months in jail. Mr. Farah who was held in prison for two weeks prior to the sentence, was accused by the governor of Sool region, Ali Mohamed Hassan (Ali-sandulle), of having planed and executed a peaceful public gathering that was held in Las Anod in conjunction with demonstrations held nationwide by the supporters of the two opposition parties three weeks ago.

 

Somaliland Globe