It is not every day that one witnesses a miracle, but to see two miracles back to back really takes one’s breath away. It was heart worming and simply beautiful to see so many people coming out to vote and stand in line for the better part of a day in order to cast their vote. It was equally remarkable to witness the peaceful manner in which the whole process unfolded without a glitch or attempt by anyone to usurp any one’s vote.
There were a handful of incidents where things did not go according to plan, but the entire nation voted without much fanfare or disruptions thanks to the remarkable competent plan of the Election Commission, the watchful eyes of the observers (international and local), university students working at polling stations and the armed forces of Somaliland who provided the necessary security at polling stations.
By by the end of the day as reports came pouring in from every district in the country it became evident early on that a landslide was in the making, and the ruling party was going to lose big. The only unknown was the reaction of the ruling party to the news of their impending loss, and to every one’s disappointment and dismay the ruling party “Udub” held a press conference where party officials alleged massive irregularities and demanded the Election Commission postpone the announcement date until their “concerns” were addressed.
It seemed to most that trouble times were ahead, then the other miracle happened!
The president came out the next morning and apologized for the earlier press conference and assured every one that he will abide by the results expected to come from the Election Commission shortly and will transfer power if it turns out that he did indeed lose the election.
The Commissioners having completed their task did not see the need for any more delays and promptly called for a press conference at the Mansoor Hotel the same day (July 1st 2010) where they announced that Kulmiye party was the winner of the Somaliland elections and declared Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud “Silanyo” as the new president elect (See detailed report here).
This institute accurately predicted that Kulmiye was going to win at least by 50,000 to 100,000 vote margin,(see article) and when all the votes have been counted the actual margin of victory for Kulmiey over Udub (government party) was a little over 880,000. Four of the six regions of the country where the bulk of the population resides voted overwhelmingly for Kulmiye where the ruling party managed to show strong numbers in Awdal, the president home region, and a very slim margin in Saxil (5000 votes), the vice presidents home town.
What no one predicted was the remarkable manner in which the Somaliland election unfolded, and how responsibly all the stakeholders behaved under tremendous pressure. What has bedevilled the rest of the continent, the people of Somaliland seem to have mastered showing the world once again that democracy is not an empty word, but has taken root in the country.
Let there be no more doubts about Somaliland taking its rightful place among the free and democratic nations of the world!
Our deepest thanks and gratitude go the people of Somaliland, the Election Commission, the Armed Forces, the leadership of the country, especially president Rayale for graciously accepting the will of the people and in so doing secured himself a place of honor in the history books for all to see.
Listen to VOA Live Coverage of Announcement of the election result:
Mahdi Gabose
Rashid Garuf
East Africa Policy Institute
www.eastafricapi.com
info@eastafricapi.
East Africa Policy Institute, an institution designed to explore solutions to regional policy issues by providing news and analysis on relevant topics in order to connect, educate, and collaborate with individuals and entities interested in finding sound solutions for regional problems.
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