By Mohamud Tani

Three Gentlemen ran for the honor of the president’s seat and power, one of them won and therefore got the title of the honorable President, two of them lost and therefore failed to be constitutionally bestowed by the title of the honorable Gentleman. Yet again in the parliamentary contest, over two hundred candidates ran for the honorable title and power of a member of parliament. Only 82 of them won the chance of becoming the constitutional representatives of the people and therefore the title of the honorable M.P.

By Ahmed H. Nuur, Oslo , Norway

Ok, folks. Some reality check is in order before I proceed. Wishes do not work and have no place in the real world. They say if wishes were horses beggars would ride, so keep that in mind and do not get heartbroken if wishes do not come true. They rarely do. Anyway, here, true to tradition, are some of my New Year Wishes for Somaliland and its peoples in 2006.

The news that was coming out the nation's capital for the last couple of days was shocking and disappointment. This was a news that was carried out by   most news media in Somaliland and Diaspora, be it Print media, Radio, TV, and websites. However,   there was one exception, and that was Qarannews.com that did not carry out the event. In this instance, one would wonder what went wrong. Was it by misjudgment or calculated plan orchestrated by its reports on the ground and the web site's editor. For this, I will leave the Somalilanders to decide what they made   of it.

By Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdillahi

If parties in intractable conflicts -- particularly in societies divided by clan, ethnic, racial or religious differences -- find that they are unable to escalate their way out of conflict, but seek a compromise that assures them a permanent place at the bargaining table, they may turn to power sharing as a potential solution. Power sharing is a term used to describe a system of governance in which all major segments of society are provided a permanent share of power; this system is often contrasted with government vs. opposition systems in which ruling coalitions rotate among various social groups over time.

By Ahmed Ali Ibrahim [Sabeyse], Scarborough Canada.

The final dismemberment of the Somali Republic was a rendezvous with fait accompli- a self-inflicted mortal blow that finally consumed the vestiges of any shared values of our society, if there was any to begin with. The paradox is that periodically, some modern day crusaders of that long lost cause, in pursuit of self-gratification or personal aggrandizement, release ill-timed comparative and often biased analysis of the qualities of the current and past leadership of the ideal Somali state.

By Dr Mohamed A Omar

As the recent political shock waves originating from the election of the parliamentary leadership have faded away, questions are being raised on Somaliland ’s growing tendency towards tradition as the guiding principle when it deals with national political conflicts. Is this a case of coincidence or a calculated choice?