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As the year
comes to an end, it is both natural and expected for Somalilanders to
sit back and take stock of the situation in their country. In order to
do that, Somalilanders should ask themselves three questions: where have
we come from? Where are we now? And where are we going? In other words,
they must keep in mind the past, present and future.
When it comes to the past, it depends how far one wants to go. But let’s
just say that Somaliland’s recent past can be summed up in its
determination to correct the historic mistake of the illegal July 1,
1960 merger with Somalia and to free itself from domination by Somalia.
Somalilanders have achieved that, though after tremendous sacrifice, and
today they rule their own country.
As far as the present is concerned, the dominant fact is that of
Somaliland peace, stability and democracy, a fact that is being more and
more appreciated by the international community, especially given the
border conflicts between several countries in the Horn of Africa region,
the multiple conflicts raging in Yemen, the takeover of much of south
Somalia by the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabaab and the descent of
Puntland into piracy and lawlessness.
Somaliland’s peace and stability however will be severely tested in the
coming presidential election, which brings us to the third question that
Somalilanders have to ask themselves: where are we going? Somaliland is
going to have a presidential election. That’s where it is going in the
near future. If a fair, free and peaceful election is held, there is no
doubt it would strengthen the case for Somaliland’s independence;
however, if it is mishandled, it would do a lot of damage. So it is in
the vital interests of all Somalilanders to ensure that fair and free
elections are held as soon as possible. This makes it incumbent upon
Somaliland’s ordinary citizens and civil society groups to get involved
and to make it clear to the political parties that they are accountable
for their actions and the national interest is above the interests of
the three political parties.
All in all, Somaliland has come a long way. It has proven wrong its
bashers and all those
who were predicting its collapse. It has shown that it is resilient,
durable and skillful in the game of politics. That, however, does not
mean all is honky-dory in Somaliland. But it does mean there are good
reasons to hope for a happy new year in Somaliland.
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