Somaliland Political Situation Update

[Jacaylbaro]

Hargeisa, 3 April 2009 (somalilandpress) – Since the Upper House of the parliament known as Guurti extended the governments term until end of October 2009, there have been many reactions from the two sides of the Somaliland population either supporting and rejecting the decision. The main opposition party, Kulmiye said the Guurti has not the mandate to set the date of the elections and so the other opposition party, UCID who is in his side said although the respect the Guurti members for their past efforts but still they believe the last decision was unconstitutional. The government said the Guurti has made the right decision and the opposition should follow it.

 

On the other hand, there have been contradicting calls from the population living in the Somaliland regions. Some are supporting the government and others opposing it. Others showed their neutrality and called for negotiations.

 

The chairman of the Parliament, Mr. Abdillahi Irro said the Guurti have the constitutional mandate to extend the governments term and called both sides for talks in order to reach a consensus.

 

In a press conference, the Kulmiye party said they will not recognize the government after the 6th of April when the last extension is ended. They called to create a caretaking government in order to prepare the elections. They also called to create committees from all the sides to manage the government media, the financial resources and the public properties.

 

The government in its side rejected the Kulmiye call and said there will be no caretaking government and only an elected President can take over the Presidential seat. They said the Guurti have the constitutional mandate to extend the government’s term and thus the government will still be legitimate until the elections take place.

 

The electoral committee who set the election date on the 31st of May did not talk to the media about this crisis. Reports say there have been discussions among the committees members to set a new date according to the new extension set by the Guurti. The opposition worried about the electoral committee might side with the government.

 

Since this new crisis, there have been mediations going on between the two sides by some prominent Somalilanders in order to calm the situation down. Many traditional leaders, businessmen and politicians have been meeting all the sides in order to reach a positive consensus to avoid any violence during this period.

 

A government official accused the opposition of forming their own government after the 6th of April in Burao and said the country will go under an emergency situation if that happens. Some media outlets supporting the opposition said the government is planning to put the Kulmiye leaders in a house arrest after the 6th of April.

 

UCID, the other opposition party said they are ready to mediate between the two sides to avoid any chaos in the country. They said they are confident that both sides will be ready for talks during the coming few days.

 

Another political party called UDHIS which was formed a week ago but not yet registered said today that they are ready to mediate between the government and the opposition. Although the leaders of this party are prominent people in Somaliland but there is still a question about their ability to mediate between the two sides while the government see them as an illegal party.

 

Sources close to both sides told Somalilandpress that both sides are now ready for a compromise and the current crisis might end in the coming days. They said there are indirect talks going on between the opposition and government at the moment.