Voters in Somalia’s breakaway republic of Somaliland cast ballots on Thursday to elect lawmakers amid hopes the exercise will bring them international recognition as a sovereign state.
About 800 000 of Somaliland’s estimated 3,5-million people are eligible to vote in the election, the third since political pluralism was introduced in 2000, nine years after the north-west Somali region declared independence from Somalia proper.
Most of the 985 polling stations opened promptly as scheduled at 6am local time, a correspondent for news agency AFP reported, and were set to close at 6pm.
Almost 250 candidates from three parties, including President Dahir Riyale Kahin’s ruling Union of Democrats (UDUB), were vying for 82 seats in Parliament in the elections being monitored by observers from South Africa, the European Commission and others.
Despite their political differences, the UDUB, opposition Hisbiga Kulmiye (Solidarity Party) and Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) all campaigned on platforms centred on winning international recognition for Somaliland.
Each claims credit for Somaliland’s decision to secede unilaterally from Somalia in May 1991 after the ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre plunged the country into a patchwork of unruly fiefdoms run by fractious warlords and their militias.
As he cast his ballot in the capital, Hargeisa, Kahin said the election is proof that his enclave is deserving of such status, particularly as the rest of the nation founders in anarchy despite the creation of a transitional government.
”This is the time to tell the international community that we need to be recognised as an independent republic,” he told reporters.
”We have fulfilled our responsibility as a government of Somaliland to implement democracy, as we promised our people,” Kahin said. ”What we need is justice from the international community. I hope the quest for independence will be realised.”
Time to ‘show our commitment’
Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf urged Somalilanders to conduct themselves peacefully as they choose MPs for the region, which is perched south of the Gulf of Aden in the notoriously volatile Horn of Africa.
”This is the time to show our commitment to democracy despite being neglected by the international community as an independent state and sovereign republic,” he said.
Opposition leaders echoed those calls while predicting victories for their respective parties.
”This is a historic day and a picture of true democracy,” Hisbiga Kulmiye’s chief Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo said.
”I urge the international community to reconsider its position and recognise Somaliland,” said UCID head Faisal Ali Warabe. ”This is the time to recognise the self-determination of the people here.”
In the past, however, the international community has spurned Somaliland’s quest for recognition, fearing it could exacerbate instability in lawless Somalia where Western intelligence agencies fear extremist groups, including Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, have gained a foothold.
Less than a week after the arrests of several alleged al-Qaeda operatives in a shoot-out with police in Hargeisa, security forces guarded polling stations and patrolled the streets of the capital and outlying towns.
Authorities have said the detainees were plotting to disrupt the polls with attacks on local leaders and foreigners.
After initially saying one was an ”internationally wanted” Afghan-trained al-Qaeda terrorist, the authorities have yet to provide any additional information about the identities of those detained.
”More police officers have been deployed and many more will be in the streets in case of electoral violence or nasty acts by saboteurs,” a security official said.
Results of the election are expected no later than early next week. — Sapa-AFP