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Hargeysa,
Somaliland, February 19, 2009 – A senior government official in
Somaliland has suggested on Thursday that the upcoming presidential
election might be postponed.
Mr. Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, Somaliland's vice president, told local press
that the voter-registration process might continue through March 29,
when Somaliland is scheduled to hold a competitive democratic election
to elect the next president.
"The ruling party [UDUB] wants to hold the election on time, but we
[also] want the voter-registration process to be fair," Somaliland's
vice president said.
It is the first admittance by a top official in Somaliland of possibly
postponing the March 29 election, which is seen as crucial to the
Somaliland's democratic process.
In 2008, Somaliland's upper house of parliament – the House of Guurti –
approved a one-year term extension for incumbent President Dahir
Riyale's government, whose five-year constitutional mandate expired in
May 2008.
Mr. Yasin said that Somaliland's three official parties – UDUB, UC ID
and Kulmiye –agreed to "convene together" if the election is postponed
and to reschedule. He indicated that such an agreement was signed when
the three parties formalized President Riyale's term extension last
year.
Another official, Somaliland Election Commission chairman Jama Mohamud
"Sweden", told the BBC Somali Service that the electronic machine that
sorts out error names and double-registers from the voter-registration
list "will begin work soon."
He avoided a direct question about changing the election date, but
invited political parties and international donors to inspect the
electronic machine and the process.
Opposition parties have accused the Somaliland administration of wanting
to purposefully delay the election, a charge denied by Somaliland's
government officials.
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