Africa

Historical vote begins in Somaliland

June 26, 2010   ·   1664327 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Fhistorical-vote-begins-in-somaliland-16643Historical+vote+begins+in+Somaliland2010-06-26+07%3A43%3A12Qalinle+Husseinhttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D16643

HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Voting began this morning [Saturday June 26] in a presidential runoff election in Somaliland widely expected to be one of the closest elections in the world.

Polling stations opened their doors 7 a.m. to hundreds of people who were lining up to cast their vote since 3 a.m. while some people slept not far from the polling sites.

Some of the people who came so early told Somalilandpress, they wanted to cast their vote early for security reasons.

“We take al-shabab threats serious and we wanted to avoid long queues so we came so early so we could be one of the first, but already 20 people ahead of me,” Nimo Hassan said.

Al Shabab, the most radical group in Somalia threatened to carry out suicide attacks in Somaliland if people came out to vote saying the practice was un-Islamic and Western institution.

The government said they would suspend all mobile communications during the elections as it feared al-Shabab might try to use mobile phones as bomb-triggers as it has done in the past in Mogadishu. It’s unclear until now if they suspended all communications or just civilians.

People were in good mood and excited but they also said they were praying that election would go peaceful.

Opinion polls conducted online give the former SNM Chairman, Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo up to 54 per cent of the vote. His opponents, Faisal Ali Warabe, was at 28 per cent for the second election in the country while the current president is at 18 per cent. However it’s unclear, how the 1.6 million eligible voters in Somaliland will vote even though most people want to see changes in Somaliland’s political landscape.

There are over 1800 polling stations around the country and the result will be expected in about a week. The voting has started in all regions of Somaliland without an incident including the disputed Sool region, where people in Las Anod, Kalabayr, Yagori, Widwid, Hudur and Aygaag turned up in polling stations.

However there are reports that six polling boxes have been stolen in the eastern town of Hadaftimo near the Puntland border. The reports added the boxes are now in the possession of Puntland forces in that town.

Many international observers consisting of two groups; 20 Americans led by International Republican Institute (IRI) and the rest of the world headed by British organisation Progressio have also arrived as well as large international reporters including BBC, VOA, Al Jazeera, New York Times and others.

Meanwhile, the president of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed congratulated the people and Government of Somaliland on a successful presidential election during a press conference in Mogadishu. He added he was impressed with the progress the region has made and was willing to do the right thing by the people of Somaliland for the past mistreatment. Sheikh Sharif also sent his warm greetings for Somaliland’s 50th independence anniversary which it gained from Great Britain on this day in 1960.

Photo: People form queue outside June 26 Secondary School in Hargeisa.

Somalilandpress | Saturday, June 26, 2010

Happy 50th anniversary to all Somalilanders wherever they might be and we will keep you up-to-date with the election – Somalilandpress team.

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By Qalinle Hussein

Tags: Election, Hargeisa, Somaliland