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By Alan
Boswell
Nairobi, September 12, 2009 – Elections in the republic of
Somaliland have been postponed again. Somaliland's election commission
said it reached its decision after determining the vote scheduled for
later this month could not be properly held in the current political
environment.
Somaliland's election commission has not set a new date for elections.
The latest announcement marks the third delay for the vote that was
originally scheduled for April 2008.
The seven-member commission said it decided on the postponement
unanimously, after agreeing that fair elections could not take place in
the absence of proper voter registration lists.
The United States had previously expressed dismay over the government's
decision to hold the elections without an actual voter list. Opposition
leaders have accused the president of attempting to orchestrate
large-scale poll fraud.
The election commission also said it hinged its decision on skepticism
that any democratic vote could take place in the midst of the region's
current political crisis as Somaliland President Dahir Riyale attempts
to maintain his grip on power.
The members of Somaliland's Lower House of Parliament introduced a
motion to impeach the president this weekend, which if successfully
passed by the majority would require a two-thirds vote in the Upper
House of Parliament to finish the impeachment.
The election commission suggested that instead of attempting a flawed
election on September 27, it is preferable to see if discussions between
the government and opposition parties can find a compromise.
The territory of Somaliland declared independence 18 years ago after
Somalia's last central government collapsed, but has yet to be
recognized as its own state by the international community.
The group Human Rights Watch had warned in July that human-rights abuses
and systematic delays by the president in preparing the territory for
elections was threatening the significant and unlikely democratic gains
Somaliland had achieved since 1991.
Human Rights Watch researcher Chris Albin-Lackey says that the
international community is in the position to put significant positive
pressure on the government to adhere to its democratic constitution, but
that instead the region has largely been left on its own.
"I think the recognition question gives the international community
quite a deal of leverage should it choose to exercise it," he said.
"Unfortunately though, most of the key international actors who have
displayed quite a lot of interest in what is going on in south and
central Somalia over the past couple of years, have really continued to
neglect and ignore what is going on here in Somaliland."
In an audio tape released last week, the spiritual leader of radical
Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab, himself from Somaliland, ridiculed the
breakaway region's continued attempt at democracy and independent
statehood, saying that despite its nearly two-decade quest the region
remains isolated and politically divided.
Somaliland authorities blame al-Shabaab for October 2008 suicide
bombings that rocked its capital city and tarnished its image as a
pocket of peace and stability in the region.
Somaliland has cooperated with the West in anti-terrorism and
anti-piracy efforts, hoping to achieve its long-awaited recognition.
Source: VOA, September 7, 2009
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