SOMALILAND: ELECTIONS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR VOTERS. By: Advocate Mohamed Ahmed Abdi Ba'aluul

Advocate Mohammed Ahmed

Somaliland never grows out from the senseless political disputes over the timeline of the national elections.  Those who were barking at Riyaleh, when he was struggling with the schedules of elections, are now trying to deflect our attention from the stench of their failure. The Guurti house which was diluted by the political non-senses, and turned out to be a tool for the presidential term extensions is a leopard that cannot change its dots.  

 It was Kulmiye party that skinned Riyaleh alive, when he failed to hold presidential election on their time. The incumbent president was the one who dared to blew the whistle to the Udub-led government and never become hesitant to call his supporter to the streets. Now, he is not in the audience theatre, so he could not tolerate the crowd who is hooting the horns at him. Today no one is willing to hear neither justification nor explanations about his government’s failure to be accountable to the public, or its disrespect to the constitution and rule of law.

 Elections do not belong to Abdirrahman Irro, or to Jamal of Ucid . Elections are not a dish cooked and served by the electoral commission, but it is the right of the public, the sovereignty of Somaliland people to approve who is going to run their affairs.

The government, oppositions, electoral committees and the international donors, called themselves as the stakeholders of the elections. In their view, it is them who decide how and when the elections could happen. Thus, elections are not our business as Somalilanders. The only choice that you are left is to bring yourself at polling station.

When you heard the political tones of those who consider themselves as oppositions, particularly when the election days appear to be indeterminate. They hot wire the international donors, reporting them how the incumbent government is reluctant to meet the deadline of its constitutional mandate. Turning the other governments to see what you had failed to handle shows the rootless political approach of the party-men. When you heard such opposition rhetoric, you might think that Somaliland elections are more favorable to the donors than its constituencies.

None of them is serious about elections. To prove that, you have to measure the contending views of the political rivalries against the realities on the ground. Oppositions demonstrated their stance against elections without registration. Likewise, the government reiterated that it will arrange everything, including the civil registration before June of this year. Both of them turned a blind eye to the practicability of the electoral road map.

Today, things are not that different. Parties agreed to the suggestions that say voter registrations should be started from July to November. While at the same time, they never made their positions towards the date of the presidential and representative elections clear. In this regard, it does not matter who might be the winner of such dirty games, but what matters is who would mind to be the onlooker of that games.   

By advocate Mohamed Ahmed Abdi Ba’alul (waddi12@gmail.com)