A war in the North Will Postpone November Elections and Keep Bihi in Somaliland Presidency

[Deeq A.]

Bihi knows a new conflict in the North will postpone elections he believes to be a verdict on his conflict-prone leadership.

Hargeisa (PP Editorial) — The President of Somaliland Administration, Muse Bihi Abdi, mobilised militias to attack positions of SSCK forces at Oog and Maygaagle. His goal is to use a renewed conflict as a pretext to stay in power in Hargeisa. The Somaliland administration cannot simultaneously prepare for elections in November and wage a war. Waging a war puts the electoral schedule on the back burner.

A new conflict would be significantly more devastating than the six-month-long conflict on the outskirts of Laascaanood (February 6 – August 25, 2023). Bihi rebranded his forces in Togdheer, known by the acronym SSB, comprising clan militias. The defeat of Somaliland forces at Gooja’adde foxholes diminished Bihi’s chances of being re-elected.

One year ago, in a brazen display of hubris, Bihi claimed, “I have the key to peace.” The man aiding Bihi in his quest to find a pretext to delay elections is Mohamed Kahin, his Interior Minister and a former colonel in the Somali Army before defecting to the Somali National Movement in the early 1980s.

Yesterday, SAAB TV released a documentary detailing the impact of the Sool conflict on businesses and nomads. Many businesses in Burao have collapsed, including a popular restaurant that had been open for over 45 years. The new private hospital in Burao, established in August 2023, was severely affected by the war; residents from Puntland State of Somalia who used to seek medical care in Burao are now going to hospitals in other parts of Somalia or Ethiopia. A female trader who sells camels succinctly described how the conflict has affected businesses: “Prices for camels have skyrocketed; the muqmad (camel meat delicacy) I used to sell in Laascaanood is no longer in demand. I pray for peace.” A researcher in Burao informed SAAB TV that “all factories based in Burao have ceased production; their products were primarily marketed to Puntland and Galmudug.”

In 2023, the President of Somaliland Administration Muse Bihi Abdi misrepresented the nature of the conflict in Laascaanood. He claimed his forces were fighting Al-Shabaab and caused the death of more than 1000 civilians and the displacement of more than 350,000 people in Laascaanood due to shelling by Somaliland forces. “We want peaceful co-existence. We did not attack territories of people loyal to Somaliland Administration, but we have the right to defend ourselves,” said Abdulkadir Aw Ali, the Leader of the Sool, Sanaag, Ceyn, and Khatumo Interim Administration, who was attending a conference in Rome.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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