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KULMIYE party’s statement conceding the April 14 presidential election was warmly welcomed by mainstream Somalilanders as well as the office of President Dahir Rayale Kahin, the man who had won the said poll. Accepting loss of the presidential election by a mere 217 votes, was obviously not an easy thing to come terms with for KULMIYE’s top-brass and the tens of thousands of its supporters. In many other countries, this type of extraordinarily close election could have led not only to a much wider controversy, but possibly to bloodshed. By endorsing the election results, KULMIYE has acted courageously, responsibly and realistically. No doubt the action will help the country pull itself together once more and direct its efforts towards addressing other imperative and politically sensitive issues, such as improving the electoral system, conducting early parliamentary elections and reforming the government.
These issues, however, cannot be resolved unless president Rayale and his UDUB party officials show the political will to do so. To begin with, it is necessary to get the political process moving again by holding parliamentary elections as early as possible.
Legislators had earlier this year shamefully voted themselves an extension, prolonging their term in the lower and upper Houses by 2 and 3 years respectively. It will be a disgrace to this country’s democracy if they were allowed to stay any longer in office. Now it is possible to contemplate a period of 6-12 months for the legislative elections to happen. In the mean time an interim parliament can be set up by the 3 political parties with each one represented in a ratio commensurate with its share of the popular vote cast in the presidential election. The current situation where UDUB alone enjoys access to public funds and facilities must also come to a stop. Realistically, since all the 3 political parties cannot be expected to survive unless provided with external institutional support in the short term, the government should perhaps workout an official arrangement for their assistance.
But the single most dangerous threat to this country’s democratic process can be summed up in one word: corruption. Because of corruption, the country’s bureaucracy is in dire straits.
Other ills also plague the country. For example, Somaliland, one of the poorest countries in the world, has neither a short nor long term development plan; incompetent people occupy many of the leading positions in government agencies and police officers fail to protect tax-payers' children from crime. This is, after all, a country where the public doesn’t even know the salary of its president. No wonder the opposition cries foul whenever elections are held.
In this difficult situation, one fact stands out: KULMIYE has acted to safeguard Somaliland's national interests. Now it's President Rayale's turn to do the same by restoring the people's confidence in government and the democratic process.
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