Somaliland
remains unrecognized for the past 31 years even though the country fulfilled
all prerequisites to get international acceptance from the world communities.
Somaliland
has authorized its own constitution, currency, and judicial system throughout
the past three decades. It has also maintained stability, peace, economic
progress, and diplomatic ties with other nations. In addition, the army was
created in order to protect land and marine borders as well as piracy and
counterterrorism in the Horn of Africa.
Therefore,
Somaliland had held three presidential elections as well as have elected
parliament, and local councils that costed millions of dollars to our taxpayers
and the international community.
However,
the fundamental elements of democracy and development are present in all of the
Somaliland's recent endeavors. However, despite the fact that the four successive
elected governments of Somaliland knocked on every door to tout the democratic
victories and landmarks we achieved since 1991, our diplomatic message sent to
the regional organizations IGAD and the African Union and the global
superpowers of Europe and the USA did not succeed.
As
a result, in order to safeguard democracy, Somaliland must uphold democratic
ideals such as building an independent society, embracing diversity, gender
equality, intellectual freedom, and social justice. The designated
administration, parliament, and the opposition parties must exercise critical
thought and address any issues that could prolong elections if Somaliland wants
to avoid postponing elections.
Elections
in Somaliland were postponed without cause, and the bylaws governing the
parliamentary election process are still in draft form. Election timetables are
also poorly prepared despite being a crucial task for achieving democracy and
winning the support of the world community on a diplomatic level. However, when
evaluating a nation's democracy, elections, peace, stability, good governance,
and corruption control are the most important metrics.
Apart from That, as long as the political parties' electoral
stakeholders came to an understanding that was assisted by the EU starting in
2020. In order to elect our next parliament representatives and local
councilors, the political parties of Somaliland (Kulmiye, Waddani, and Ucid),
the National Election Commission (NEC), as well as the parliament, should
expedite the election process. This dialogue between the stakeholders was
successful, and a combination of both elections was held on May 31, 2021 and that will become win win solutions.
On the 13th of November 2022 the
Presidential election cannot be held, according to the Somaliland National
Electoral Commission, which cited technical and financial issues. President
Bihi may be able to prolong his tenure as a result of this.
The national electoral commission
estimated that commencing on October 1, 2022, the elections would take place
over a period of nine months. The national electoral commission must first
announce a date when they could hold the election before the house of elders
can extend the president's term of office. It is still unclear whether the
house would grant the president the additional nine months requested by the
electoral commission.
Only a few days had passed since
the House of Representatives had adopted a bill that would have combined the
presidential and political association elections; the bill still needs to be
ratified by the President and the House of Elders.
The national electoral commission
of Somaliland has already warned the public that they are unable to carry out a
scheduled election owing to a variety of factors, including technical and financial
issues as well as droughts.
The house elders also sent back the
recently approved election law amendment to the house of representatives. A
move that could trigger further constitutional and political crises. Initial
reports say the speaker of the house of representatives Abdikrizak Khalif
deliberately rejected receiving the amendment law which his house was passed
recently from the house of elders that promoted the amendment law documents in
a cardboard box to be placed between the two houses’ buildings.
This follows after 46 House of
Representatives MPs sent a complaint letter to the house of elders, claiming
the procedure of the approval was illegal and against the house in-laws. A
complaint was denied by the rest of the house of representatives including the
chairmanship.
Somaliland House of Elders sent an
amendment to the nation’s election law back to the House of Representatives. The
law sought to alter the rules governing associations and political parties. The
House of elders stated that their decision was based on a complaint from 46
MPs, who argued that the vote violated House bylaws. The chairman of the house
of representatives again returned the election law to the upper house of the
Parliament.
On 01 Oct 2022, The Somaliland
house of elders unanimously extended President Muse Bihi's term by two years,
potentially escalating a political conflict. The house also gave their chamber
a five-year extension.
This comes shortly after the
national electoral commission of Somaliland stated that the presidential
election would take place within nine months. The commission stated that they
would prepare all election-related obligations during this time, including
voter registration.
This is not the first time that
a president of Somaliland has had their term extended, as previous presidents
had similar extensions made by the house of elders, the only chamber with the
power to do so. For the past few months, Somaliland has been stuck in a
political impasse over the order and timing of elections, which has yet to be
resolved.
Finally, Somaliland postponed
presidential election will damage the recognition of Somaliland. We are
advising Somaliland stakeholders to avoid any delayed election in the near
future because the nation is searching for international recognition from the international
community.
Hajicami@blogspot.com
Hargeisa, Somaliland
