HORMOOD expected to announce today its merger with KULMIYE
Hargeisa (SL Times): The campaign for Somaliland’s presidential election has begun, with incumbent President Dahir Rayale leaving Hargeisa last Tuesday on a tour of the country’s Northwestern coast.
Mr. Rayale’s visit to the Western parts of coastal Somaliland came as the National Electoral Commission gave the green light for political parties to launch, with effect from last Wednesday, their campaigning for the presidential election, to be held next April 14.
President Rayale’s tour of the districts of Lughaya, Zaila and Borama was officially described as the final leg of a planned country wide fact-finding mission that the President began last year with visits to the regions of Sool [Las-Anod], Sanag [Erigavo], Togdheer [Buroa] and Sahil [Berbera].
Mr. Rayale’s tour of the regions last year, actually began a week or so before the local elections that were held on Dec 15, 2002. His sudden departure from the capital on the early hours of Wednesday, to the coastal area north and west of Hargeisa, has however been described by many people as nothing short of an election campaign.
In fact, the President needed to raise voter support for his election among the area inhabitants who have been divided by a dispute over the regional jurisdiction under which their territories should be administered. Both Hargeisa and Borama regional authorities claim territorial jurisdiction over large chunks of coastal land. The center of the dispute are the two coastal towns of Lughaya and Eil-Sheikh, which historically came under the jurisdiction of Hargeisa. However, under a regional administrative sub-division introduced by the former Siyad Barre regime in the early eighties, the two areas had been re-designated as being part of a new region named "Baki" which was then re-named as Awdal.
Local elections in the disputed localities belonging to Eil Sheikh and Lughaya had to be postponed for one day to allow the central government to reinforce its security personnel there.
President Rayale visited Lughaya on Wednesday before proceeding to the port town of Zaila at the Somaliland and Djiboutian border on the same day. He was expected to discuss the dispute over territorial jurisdiction with the elders of the Sa’ad Mussa, Gadabursi and Isa clans who inhabit the area. Though a breakthrough on this issue was unlikely to materialize as a result of this visit, failure to make some kind of a progress may cost the president the loss of the area’s Isa and Isaq votes.
Mr. Rayale was also expected to hear bitter grievances from the local communities over the lack of developmental assistance. Water is considered as the main priority. Despite the many clinics and schools built in other parts of Somaliland, most of the area's localities there received none of them. The area lies behind the mountainous Golis range and has been left isolated from the rest of the country due to lack of accessibility by motor transport roads.
President Rayale arrived in Borama by road from Zaila on Thursday. He was expected in Gabiley today.
Meanwhile, UCID party’s presidential candidate, Faysal Ali Warabe has accused President Rayale’s government of using state resources for election campaigning. Speaking at a workshop organized by the NEC on Tuesday, Mr. Faysal said the upcoming presidential election couldn’t be expected to be fair unless the government desisted from abusing public resources.
Abdul-Aziz Samale of KULMIYE opposition party had also taken issue with President Rayale’s reshuffling of his cabinet to accommodate 3 new appointees from ASAD, a faction of which joined the government controlled UDUB party recently.
"Offering governmental posts in exchange for allegiance to UDUB is an undemocratic practice and undermines the multi-party political system," Mr. Abdul-Aziz said.
Moreover, the chairman of the NEC, Ahmed Haji Adami criticized the government for failing to arrange an early release of budgetary funds allocated for the Commission. He also expressed concern over what he termed as lack of a government effort to evict Puntland militiamen from parts of Eastern Sanag region. He said, "election in some parts of Eastern Sanag could be jeopardized if the presence of foreign militia men was not dealt with properly."
Attendants of the NEC workshop, held on Tuesday and Wednesday for the 3 contesting political parties and civil society groups, called on the Commission to hold more public debates on the issue of preparedness for next presidential elections.
Somaliland’s Minister of Interior stated on Wednesday that the policy of his government was to hold the upcoming election all over Somaliland territories, including the Sool region.
The NEC Chairman disclosed that about 900 polling stations would be established in the country for the next presidential election.
The political organization HORMOOD is expected to announce today its merger with the political party KULMIYE. The two organizations will hold a joint press conference in Ming Sing hotel to announce the merger.
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