Election Should Be Held On Schedule With Or Without Voter Registration

[Jacaylbaro]

So here we go again. After taking seven years to prepare for an election, Somaliland is exactly where it was seven years ago. This election was supposed to be an improvement on the last election, and towards that end, a voter registration program was undertaken. However, there are serious disagreements about the results of the voter registration with the two opposition parties, the Chairman of the House of elders, the Speaker of Parliament, Interpeace and international donors supporting the results of the voter registration while the Election Commission and the ruling party are opposing the results of the voter registration.

 

Ordinary Somalilanders are confused and do not know what to make of what they are being told by their political leaders, especially since some of those leaders who are now opposed to the voter registration used to support it at one time, and some of those who are favoring it now used to oppose it on earlier occasions. One thing is clear though: the voter registration mess is due to failure of leadership on the part of Somaliland’s political elite. The biggest culprit is, of course, the government, because it is its responsibility to prepare the country for the presidential election before the end of its term.

 

Not only has the government failed to prepare the country for election within its 5 year mandate, but even after getting two extra years, the country is in no better position than it was 7 years ago. This however, does not mean that the government is the only entity that is responsible for the voter registration problem. The opposition parties and Interpeace also bear some responsibility, but the second highest share of responsibility for the fiasco, after the government, goes to the electoral commission which has failed in its duty of preventing multiple registrations.

 

But leaving the question of who is to blame aside, the important question facing Somalilanders is what to do with less than two months left for the presidential election. There are two choices: either to spend more time and energy fixing the registered voter list and thereby risk not having an election on Sept.27 or have an election without a list of registered voters. No doubt, these are two bad choices, but the latter choice is less bad than the former.

 

Therefore, Somalilanders have to make the best of a bad situation and have an election without a registered list of voters because the other alternative will mean further delay, and further delay would create a political environment that Somaliland will be unable to cope with, and that will de-legitimize the whole political process.

 

In other words, Somalilanders have to bite the bullet and do what they have to do, rather than wait for what they would like to do.

 

 

Editorial: Somaliland Times

[GAAROODI]

Somaliland times: Kulmiye Times

 

loooooool, election will go through...regardless brother.

 

Silanyo is 75 years old, he probably has demensha.

[juma-nne]

Somaliland times: Kulmiye Times

 

loooooool, election will go through...regardless brother.

 

Silanyo is 75 years old, he probably has demensha.

 

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Waar kaagan maqiiqsan ee caytamayaa bal nooga waran halkay ololohii udub iyo aabo riyaale mareen?

[Thankful]

Editorial: Somaliland Times

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