Ruling party wins Somaliland electionsMOGADISHU, Somalia
- Breakaway Somaliland's ruling party won the most seats in its
first multiparty parliamentary elections since it separated from Somalia
more than a decade ago, according to provisional results released Saturday
by election officials. The election is the latest step in Somaliland's efforts to set up
democratic state structures and gain international recognition. The
breakaway republic has already held a referendum over independence from the
rest of Somalia as well as presidential and local polls. President Dahir Riyale Kahin's Udub party, or Pillar, won 33 seats, the
opposition Kulmiye party got 28 seats, and U'id, or The Party for Justice
and Welfare, won 21 seats, said National Electoral Commission Chairman Ahmed
Haji Ali Adami. Somaliland's Constitutional Court will announce the final results within
20 days, after verifying the provisional numbers and investigating any
complaints filed by candidates. Spokesmen for the opposition parties said they were satisfied with the
results of the Sept. 29 parliamentary polls. "We are happy, especially with how transparent the (election) process
was," said Yusuf Mohamed Guled of Uid. "Unlike previous elections, this one
was indisputable." Kahin won the 2003 presidential elections, and his party won the 2002
single-party local polls. The majority of voters endorsed Somaliland's
secession from the rest of Somalia in a 1999 referendum. The parties fielded 246 candidates in total to compete seats in the
82-member legislature. Somaliland has had a parliament since 1991, but until
now lawmakers have been chosen by their clans through a process of
consultation rather than voting. Somaliland, a former British colony, merged in 1960 with the Italian
colony of Somalia to form the independent republic of Somalia. It set up its own administration after breaking away from the rest of
Somalia when the Horn of Africa country descended into anarchy in the early
1990s. Clan-based fighting swept the center and south of Somalia following
the 1991 ouster of longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. |
