By Mukhtar Mohamed Abby

Introduction: On 14 April 2003, the people of Somaliland enjoyed an experience all too rare in the Horn of Africa: an election without a predetermined outcome. The re-election of the incumbent President, Kahin came as a surprise for a number of reasons: first, because the razor thin margin of his victory- just 80 votes out of the nearly 500,000 ballots cast. Secondly, because he is not a member of Somaliland's majority clan. Thirdly, because the opposition was tipped to win

Somaliland's Presidential election was remarkable for other reasons as well: it was the second election since December 2002, after a democratic hiatus of 32 years, and the third time in as many years that Somaliland had been given the opportunity to express their preference at the ballot box. These first bold steps towards democratization set Somaliland apart from the Somali Republic, which has become virtually synonymous with the term" failed state" since the collapse of Barre's dictatorship in 1991.At a time when the Horn of Africa has been described as home of the "world's worst regimes," the achievement of this unrecognized republic stand out in even greater contrast. However, Somaliland has achieved this remarkable progress through reconciliation and compromise, which is the subject of this paper.

President Abdurrahman Tuur's Government

In the wake of SNM's victory over the tyrannical regime of Siyad Barre, SNM leadership met in Burao in April in1991, which elders from various clans of the country attended. The SNM leadership declared in a grand conference on 18 May the independence of republic of Somaliland a provisional National Charter followed about a week later. Article 1 of the Charter states:

The state formerly known as Somaliland which secured its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 25^th Day of June 1960 is hereby reconstituted as a full independence and sovereign state.

The Charter also stipulated that a transitional period of two years the government of the new 'republic of Somaliland would be the responsibility of the Somali National Movement, whose Chairman and vice chairman, Mr. Abdurrahman Ahmed Ali and Mr. Hassan Isse Jama would respectively become the President and the vice President .Provision was made for the members of the other clans to join the new cabinet and Parliament( an enlarged version of the SNM Central Committee),but the power remained firmly in the hands of the major clan of the Somaliland. Upon conclusion of the transitional period, the provisional National Charter would be replaced "by a constitution approved in a National Referendum."

Since then, it has followed a very different trajectory from the Southern of Somalia while collapse of the Siyad' regime plunged the South into civil war and the kind of institutional vacuum that has since come epitomize the notion of "state failure" Somaliland embarked on a period of increasing, political stabilization and economic growth. Since 1991 more than one million people have returned to their homes and tens and thousands of dwellings and businesses have been rebuilt from the rubble. Some militias have been incorporated in the national army forces and tens and thousands of mines and unexploded munitions have been removed from the ground

In January 1992, the new President, Mr. Tuur has presided over civil wars, which plunged the republic of Somaliland into pandemonium. During the course of the conflict the towns of Burao and Berbera were heavily damaged and tens of thousands of recent returnees from the Ethiopian refugee camps were again put to flight.

In October 1992, after nine months of a sporadic highly mobile warfare, a delegation of clan elders managed to bring the two sides to peace talks at the town of Sheikh. The conference, known as Towfiiq, concluded with a ceasefire and an agreement to reconvene for a more inclusive, a national conference at Borama in January 1993.

President Egal's Government

The 1993 Borama conference (properly known as Guul Allah or 'God's Triumph) which lasted nearly five months and involved hundreds of representatives from all of Somaliland clans is considered have been a milestone in Somaliland 's evolution as a de facto state. Before they dispersed, the conference delegates managed to conclude a peace and security accord, formulate a new national Charter and establish a new government under the leadership of veteran politician, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal,the last and democratically elected Prime –Minister of Somalia.

The choice of President Egal to lead the new government was significant to many, because he was the author of the Somaliland's independence in 1960,and arguably the most accomplished Somaliland statesman, there was no doubt about his ability to lead.

The primary achievement of the Borama conference was the replacement of the factional rule of the SNM with a civilian administration. This new system of government, known as the clan system was a hybrid of Western political institutions and the traditional Somaliland system of clan representation. Although only intended to function as a three-year stop gap measure, the clan system has underpinned Somaliland's peace and stability ever since.

President Egal's administration has done remarkable progress, but encountered many challenges. The government started a disarm and demobilize clan militia. Those who handed in their weapons were absorbed into the new national army or promised demobilization assistance. As uniformed police supplanted the militia on the streets of major towns, public confidence and pride in the new government grew. The improved security situation encouraged a surge in physical reconstruction: newly built homes began to rise above the rubble and new companies opened for business. Even the United Nations, which disapproved of Somaliland's claims to statehood and had therefore remained absent from the Borama conference was forced to acknowledge the "the peaceful reconciliation process has moved forward impressively" and "noted the formation of the functioning administration under the leadership of Mr. Egal.

Tensions came to a head in November 1994 when the Egal government tried to wrest control of Hargeysa airport from a clan militia, who went against the disarmament. Heavy fighting broke out first in Hargeysa, then in Burao, where the government authority was challenged by a clan militia. By early 1996 fighting had ground to a halt with neither side able to impose its will decisively on the other. No agreement was ever signed and hostilities were instead brought to a close by a serious of local agreement between clans. In December 1996 a National Conference was convened in Hargeysa to resolve Somaliland's divisions and appoint the news government. Although generally considered to have been follow – up to the 1993 Borama conference, the 1996 – 1997 Hargeysa conference differed in important ways , shedding light on the both the strength and weaknesses of the Somaliland 's clan system. When Hargeysa conference opened President Egal had already been in office for longer than the two years term he had originally been appointed to serve. In May 1995, his mandate set expires. In September 1993 with the war still unfinished, Parliament granted him an eighteen – month extension of his term ending in March 1997. Again President Egal won landslide victory and secured a further five- year term at Somaliland's helm.

President' first term had been in many respects, a failure on account of the civic war his government had made little progress towards to a new constitution, a referendum or elections. Fortunately for Somaliland, President Egal's term would prove more fruitful. In the aftermath of the conference, Somaliland experienced its most prolonged and dramatic period of reconstruction and growth. The sphere of activity of the administration was broadened to almost all parts of the territory; and the process of democratization, which had essentially remained frozen since the 1991 Burao conference, finally went. In 200, a 45 – member committee jointly nominated by the executive and the legislature, managed to come up with a mutually acceptable constitution, and with the last remaining obstacles envisioned by the 1991 Burao conference for 1993 was finally held 31 May 2001. In August 2001, Simmering discontent boiled over into open revolt when parliament tabled a vote of no – confidence in Egal. The motion was defeated by just one vote. The same month, a group of traditional elders challenged president Egal, calling for a clan conference to be held to decide on the future of the country. The challenge of elders and the government's heavy handed response threatened to bring Somaliland to the brink of civil conflict, but mediation by civic and religious leaders managed to defuse the crisis. Time for completion of the political transitional was running short. Municipal elections were slated to take place in late December 2001, to be followed by presidential elections before expiry of president Egal's mandate in March 2002. But the legislative and administrative preconditions for elections did not yet exist. An Electoral law was passed only in November 2001, and the National Election Commission was formed a month later just two days before the scheduled date of the election. Confronted with a potential crisis if president Egal's term of office came to an end without election of successor, parliament granted him one last extension of his mandate until March 2003.

President Egals' Death

President Egal did not live out his term of office: he died on 3 May 2002 while undergoing surgery in South Africa many observers, Somali and foreign alike doubted that Somaliland could survive his death, and watched the transition for signs of disintegration. The greatest fear was that violence will undo the progress that he had made during his tenure. Instead, his sudden departure from the scene served as tonic to the political process, generating "an outpouring of national sentiment." When the news of the President Egal's death has reached Hargeysa, the leaders of Somaliland's three councils (the two chambers of parliament and the council of Ministers) met to decide upon a course of action. By sunset on 3 May, Kahin had been sworn in as interim President until March 2003, and Somaliland had successfully navigated its first constitutional transition. The new interim President, Kahin assured the people of Somaliland that the elections would be held as intended, and no postponement will be accepted. However, UDUB was soon joined in the field by eight more political associations of which three of them were subsequently disqualified for failing to meet the criteria established by law leaving six to contest the local elections. In the municipal elections, three political associations were qualified by name UDUB, Kulmiye, and UCID, and were recognized as legitimate national political parties of the country that will be contested the Presidential and the parliamentary elections

President Kahin Wins The Presidential Polls

Long before the polling day, it was clear that the outcome of the Presidential polls would be a close call. But when, on the afternoon 19 April, the National Election Commission finally declared the preliminary results, the margin of victory was uncomfortable thin. UDUB had won purely 80 votes. Prior to the elections, parties leaders on all sides had committed themselves to abide by the electoral outcome. But the NEC's wobbly calculations, which involved errors, omissions and the disqualification of over a dozen ballot boxes, invited controversy. Both Kulmiye and UDUB cried foul and began to prepare complaints for submission to the Apex court, which was scheduled to announce the definitive results on 8 May. Whatever the reason the Apex court was moved by the complaints brought by either side and refused to open additional ballot boxes but the final decision announced Sa'id Farah on the 11 May served to further mystify the outcome: according to the Apex court, UDUB had won not only 80 votes but by 217.

On 16 May 2003, Kahin was sworn in as Somaliland's President in a low key ceremony at state House from which opposition leaders were absent. UCID satisfied with its unexpected robust third place finish, quickly announced its acceptance of the results. But when Kulmiye rejected the outcome and declared the court's decision illegitimate, Somalilanders at home and abroad held their breath, fearful of the worst. Kulmiye's chairman, Sillanyo, however, seemed anxious to downplay fear that the party's truculence might turn to violence. However, the NEC's errors and court's subsequently verdict had earned accusations of political bias; therefore, Sillanyo remained defiant to acknowledge party's defeat. The parliamentarians, Elders and eminent scholars of the country have wasted no time in containing the situation before it’s too late, and decided to head off the crisis. They urged Sillanyo to admit his party's defeat, and at same time congratulate the newly elect President on his victory. He eventually admitted the defeat thanks to the pressure exerted on him by the parliamentarians, Elders and the scholars.

Conclusion

Somaliland has always been known for its reconciliation and compromise, which is too rare in the Horn of Africa, and Africa at the large, which set Somaliland apart from the neighboring Somalia, which has become" virtually synonymous with the term " failed State" since the downfall of Barre's despotic regime in 1991.

The leadership of SNM has been built upon compromise, reconciliation, and harmony. Once a stalemate and political crises would emerge their discussions yielded some kind of consensus in which all the stake holders of SNM stuck by it. But what staggers many is that the critics of SNM revile the leadership of SNM for its legacy that is what Somaliland currently enjoying. The tranquility, stability and the good governance can be attributed to the leadership of SNM, and the late father of Somaliland, President Egal, who had built this nascent republic of Somaliland from the scratch.

Knowing that all eyes of the international community are on the forthcoming Presidential contest, and that Somaliland is closer to international recognition. My conviction is that the people of Somaliland and their leaders are more ripe than in the past, and should exercise this time their franchise peacefully in consistent with the electoral laws. In conclusion, I strongly urge the party leaders to avoid any sort of bone of contention as it happened in the erstwhile Presidential polls and at the same time rise above the political gains; and let's put Somaliland first. Compromise and harmony shall be our motto.

Mukhtar Mohamed Abby

India, Karnataka State

 Mukhtarcabi@hotmail.com

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives | Search