Somaliland Elections To Be Held In December 2008 & March 2009

Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 24, 2008 (SL Times) – Somaliland’s political leaders agreed this week to a proposal submitted to them by the National Electoral Commission calling for holding the country’s next presidential and municipal elections on December 15, 2008 and March 15, 2009.

Senior government leaders and representatives of the opposition parties have been holding talks since May 14 with the aim of resolving the country’s political crisis which was triggered by the decision of the Guurti on April 10, 2008 to extend president Riyale’s term in office which was due to expire by May 15 for one more year.

The opposition rejected the Guurti’s unilateral decision as illegal and vowed not to recognize Riyale as president after May 15, 2008.

It is not yet clear whether the opposition will be sticking to this position or will be seeking to reach an agreement with Mr. Riyale over the formation of a government of national unity.

The leaders of the KULMIYE and UCID opposition parties and the UDUB ruling party agreed earlier in the week to introduce a motion in parliament requesting the scrubbing of a clause in the voter registration act that demands holding the two elections six months apart.

Opposition leaders have indicated that there were some matters still to be agreed upon such as a guarantee that the Guurti will not interfere with the new time-line for the elections.

Source: Somaliland Times