Somaliland Election Free and Fair: Observers

[Jacaylbaro]

Observers said Monday the weekend presidential poll in the breakaway Somali republic of Somaliland was largely free and fair and turnout high despite threats from Islamists.

 

“Overall, the election seems to have met conditions for a free and fair expression of the popular will of Somalilanders,” said Progressio, the University College of London’s development planning unit, and Somaliland Focus (UK).

 

The observer bodies praised in a statement a high voter turnout on Saturday in many areas of Somaliland “despite threats from Islamist militant groups to disrupt the process, which thankfully came to nothing”.

 

They also raised concerns, however, citing “reported misuse of public resources, including vehicles, the time of civil servants and national public media by the incumbent party”.

 

They also noted “sustained attempts at underage voting and systematic distribution of voter ID cards by unauthorised agents”, the statement said, adding officials from the electoral commission took steps to stop those abuses.

 

The observer mission said it “looks forward to a speedy and clear result in the election that is accepted by all parties”.

 

“Notwithstanding the concerns outlined above, we express our confidence that the election process to date is likely to result in a free and fair expression of the popular will.”

 

Electoral commission chief Isse Yusuf Mohamud said meanwhile there had not so far been any official complaint from any of the political parties.

 

“The counting process continues and results will be announced during the week,” he said.

 

President Dahir Riyale Kahin ran against two opposition candidates: Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo, whose Kulmiye party is the largest parliamentary bloc, and Faisal Ali Warabe of the Justice and Welfare party.

 

Somaliland, which is more tribally homogenous than the rest of Somalia, has been striving for international recognition since it broke away in 1991.

 

Source: AFP

[Jacaylbaro]

Somaliland’s Vote Met Standards, Observers Say

 

 

Elections in Somaliland met international standards, said a foreign observer mission that monitored the vote in the breakaway region of northwestern Somalia.

 

The June 26 vote was “a free and fair expression of the popular will of the Somaliland people,” Steve Kibble, joint coordinator for the team led by Progressio, a London-based development agency, told reporters today in the capital, Hargeisa.

 

The election in one of the few peaceful and democratic territories in the Horn of Africa was delayed for two years because of wrangling over voter registration. President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the United Peoples’ Democratic Party faced challenges from Ahmed Mahmoud Silanyo of the Kulmiye party and Faisal Ali Warabe from the Justice and Welfare Party.

 

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, after the fall of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. No sovereign state has recognized Somaliland as an independent nation.

 

The vote will help Somaliland “get international recognition and investment,” Richard Williamson, a former U.S. presidential envoy to Sudan and ambassador to the United Nations, said at the weekend.

 

Riyale became president of the former British colony in 1992 and won election to the post in 2003, after his party defeated the opposition Kulmiye party by 80 votes.

 

The June 26 vote was delayed until this month because of security concerns and registration problems. Preliminary results are expected later this week.

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

[Saalax]

"Riyale became president of the former British colony in 1992 and won election to the post in 2003"

 

 

huh, the 2003 part is right but not the 1992 part.

[Jacaylbaro]

Somaliland Election: 90 percent votes counted, observers say fair

 

 

The presidential election in Somalia’s breakaway republic of Somaliland was free and fair, international observers said on Monday.

 

More than one million people voted on Saturday in Somalia’s separatist northern enclave that is seeking international recognition as a sovereign state.

 

“Despite some irregularities, the election process was fair, free and expressed the will of the people. We are looking to a speedy and clear result that is accepted by all the parties,” Conrad Heine, an observer from Britain, told reporters.

 

Three candidates stood in the election that opposition leader Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo is expected to win, ousting Dahir Rayale Kahin, who has been in office for nine years.

 

A former British colony, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but has not been recognised internationally despite its relative stability and the establishment of democratic institutions.

 

Over the same period, anarchic Somalia has been subject to continuing violence that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

 

International monitors however said they were concerned at complaints by the Somaliland opposition blaming the incumbent president’s ruling party for using public funds, state media and vehicles for its campaign.

 

Some residents in disputed areas along Somaliland’s border with Puntland, a semi-autonomous enclave, refused to vote. Militia supporting Puntland raided polling stations, killing four people and seizing ballot boxes.

 

“The unwillingness of portions of the electorate to participate in the polls in Sool and East Sanag was a matter of concern,” Hein said. But he said that the election had met the criteria required.

 

The International Republican Institute (IRI), a U.S.-based group which monitors elections, said the vote was peaceful, without major incident and generally met international standards.

 

IRI cautioned the political parties and the public against jumping to conclusions before the final result is announced.

 

“Election day is only one part of a larger and longer four part process, which includes the pre-election environment, pre-election administration, election day voting, and vote counting and post-election adjudication resulting in acceptance of a legitimate result,” it said in a statement.

 

The National Election Commission chairman, Essa Yusuf Mohammed, told reporters that most of the votes had been counted, except those cast in the capital Hargeisa, but declined to comment on early results.

 

“Until now, ninety percent of the votes have been counted. We are waiting for Hargeisa to finish soon,” he said.

 

 

Source: Reuters