Most Somalilanders greeted the end of the recent election related political crisis with a sigh of relief. This is understandable since the country seemed to be on the verge of a political meltdown. But now that the immediate issues behind the confrontations are resolved, it is time to look back and ponder what led to that dangerous situation. What makes this even more urgent is that a new election commission has been established and has started its work. Of course, the crisis had several causes but the one issue that took center stage was that of the voters’ list. The strange thing about this matter is that although there is general agreement among the three political parties and the former election commission that indeed some fraud did take place during the voter registration, none of the political parties or the former election commission is willing to explain what exactly was their role in the fraud? Did they participate in it? And if they did not take part in the fraud, why didn’t they prevent it?
It is clear now that in their pursuit of political advantage, the political parties abused the political process, and that abuse resulted in the breakdown of the process. Since it was the political parties and the election commission that messed things up, the logical thing to do would have been to punish the political parties and the election commission. Unfortunately, up to now, only the former election commission was punished.
This raises the question: if the political parties are allowed to go Scot free for creating a political crisis in which individuals were killed and injured, citizens’ lives and properties were endangered, and the country’s reputation was damaged, doesn’t this mean that political parties are being encouraged to continue in the same course that led to the crisis. Doesn’t it mean that the political parties can go on jerking the country from crisis to crisis without paying any price?
It is the fear that Somaliland’s political parties will repeat their past misdeeds if they are not held accountable now that has motivated Mr. Mohamud Jama Ahmed’s lawsuit against the political parties. Although Mohamud Jama Ahmed was courageous enough to take the political parties to court, his fears of a repeat of the previous ugly events are widely shared by Somalilanders. That is why his case deserves a hearing from Somaliland’s judicial system. Denying Mohamud Jama Ahmed a hearing means denying the accountability of political parties.








 

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