Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 2, 2009 (SL Times) – The leaders of Somaliland’s opposition parties, Kulmiye and Ucid, declared their acceptance of the results of the mediation between them and the government. The two opposition leaders made this announcement in a press conference at Mansoor hotel. The Chairman of UCID said, “although the mediation committee did not cover all the points that they were supposed to mediate, the opposition parties accept the results because they care about the country, however, we would like the committee to work on the remaining issues such as the commission problem and public accountability; they also should prepare for the signing ceremony of the agreement.”
The Chairman of Kulmiye said, “We accept the decision of the mediation committee, we have also mentioned before that we will abide by the outcome and whatever is in the interests of the country.”
Among the people who attended the press conference were the vice-Chairman of Kulmiye, Mr. Muse Bihi, Speaker of Parliament, Mr Abdirahman Muhammad Abdillahi (Irro), Kulmiye's vice-presidential candidate Abdirahman Abdillahi Zaylai, UCID's vice-presidential candidate Muhammad Rashid Sheikh Hassan, UCID's spokesman Hassan Hussein Muhammad, Kulmiye's spokesman Mohammad Kahin Ahmad, members of parliament and members of the executive committees of both parties.
The main points of the mediation committee’s decision were:
1- The Upper House’s extension of the terms of the president and vice president is valid
2- The voter registration must be completed by July 27, 2009
3- The 3 political parties must be given equal access to the government media
4- Constitutional rights of political parties to engage in political activities and freedom of assembly should be ensured
5- Establishment of an agreed upon code of conduct for the political parties.
 

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