Gen. Adde, President-Elect of Puntland State

[General Duke]

Gen. Adde, President-Elect of Puntland State

- Saturday, January 08, 2005 at 20:54

 

Garowe, 08.01.05 - In one of the most dramatic events in the history of Puntland State of Somalia, Gen. Adde Muse Hirsi, a veteran politician was elected President on Saturday here in Garowe, State capital.

 

 

 

The general as a gladiator fighting for his life in the ring stunned everyone including himself in the third and final round as he scored the winning goal securing 35 of the total 65 votes with 30 votes going to Hashi, the runner up.

 

 

 

Final Round

 

 

Candidate

Votes

 

Mohamed Abdi Hashi

30

 

Gen Adde Muse

35

 

This was a cliff-hanger election so close that it went into the final leg with no clear winner in the earlier rounds. Hashi who was leading in the first two rounds with some 8 votes in the lead in the second leg was seen as the likely winner, but that was until Gen .Adde snatched the gem a the summit of the camel’s hump.

 

Hashi who needed only 4 votes to win the election failed to sway voters to his corner. Surprising to many people that had been closely following the election was how 14 votes of the 15 votes that had earlier gone to Abdirahman M Farole had gone to Gen. Adde, and how Hashi added only one vote to his tally.

 

In the first leg, the votes were cast as follows:

 

 

First Round

 

 

Candidate

Votes

 

Mohamed Abdi Hashi

27

 

Gen Adde Muse

18

 

Eng. Abshir Muse

5

 

Abdirahman M Farole

15

 

 

Whereas in the second round with three candidates with the highest number of votes moving on, the votes were cast as follows:

 

 

 

Second Round

 

 

Candidate

Votes

 

Mohamed Abdi Hashi

29

 

Gen Adde Muse

21

 

Abdirahman M Farole

15

 

 

This was undeniably one of the fairest and more transparent election Puntland had seen. And as the Speaker of the House of the Parliament announced the election results, MPs rose to congratulate the winner while commiserating the former President.

 

President Hashi thanked the Election Committee, the MPs, congratulated his successor and wished him all the best in his future endeavours.

Hours later, Hassan Afqurac was also elected as the Vice President-Elect.

Chairman of the High Court sworn in both the President-Elect and his Vice President-elect.

 

Government officials and ministers from Hashi’s Cabinet spoke to the media welcoming the election result and congratulated the State’s third President, Gen. Adde Muse Hirsi.

 

Celebrations are continuing in the streets of all major cities in Puntland to the early hours of Sunday. And as the news of the election outcome reached cities like Las Anod, Bosaso and Galkayo people took to the streets welcoming the election result.

 

In Qardo, Gen. Adde’s chief constituency, festivities were exceptionally long and are still continuing. Journalists in Las Anod, Hashi’s constituency confirm celebrations and the welcoming of the President –Elect. In Bosaso, Puntland’s commercial city, people came out in great numbers congratulating each other for what is bound to enter in the history books as a great occasion. In Galkayo, it is also confirmed that people are still celebrating the election result debating the fairness of the vote casting, the conduct of the Election Committee, MPs and presidential candidates.

 

 

Whichever way one looks at it, Puntland State today opened a new chapter in its political discourse in a region that wrestles with the daemons of its past destructive political configuration. Maturity on the part of the political leaders and the general public, that had remained loyal to the process, has transpired.

I wish the President-Elect and his predecessor the best of luck.

 

Mohamed Aden Ali

 

gorayocawl@yahoo.com