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Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 19, 2010 (SL Times) – Catholic development
agency Progressio, the Development Planning Unit at UCL and Somaliland
Focus (UK) say good progress is being made towards the holding of
Somaliland’s long-delayed presidential elections on the scheduled date
of 26 June 2010.
The three organizations, whose advance mission is now established in
Hargeysa, were invited in January 2009 by Somaliland’s National
Electoral Commission (NEC) to act as coordinators of the international
observation mission for presidential elections in the
internationally-unrecognized Republic of Somaliland.
They said recent months have seen rapid progress towards a free and fair
election, a "clear indication", they said, of the effectiveness of the
new NEC put in place after the parties agreed to a revised timetable for
elections.
Since campaigning started in early June, there have been no major
campaign-related incidents of violence. The agreement between the three
parties to hold rallies on separate days appears to be holding. In
security terms, an incident involving alleged political Islamists in the
town of Burco in early June regrettably resulted in the death of a
member of Somaliland’s police force. This has given cause for concern in
the context of threats to disrupt the election, but also demonstrates
the preparedness of the Somaliland population and police.
The coordinators warn that there are still outstanding logistical issues
that need to be resolved around the security of observers, which are
essential for the mission to proceed.
Michael Walls, a joint coordinator, said: "We hope to have around 70
international observers from a wide variety of countries, along with 800
local counterparts.
"Naturally, we are actively monitoring the security situation in order
to ensure that a balance is maintained between the widest possible
coverage of the poll and the personal security of the observation
teams.”
His colleague, Dr Steve Kibble, said: "We are encouraged by the
overwhelming desire of the people of Somaliland to see a peaceful
election, recognized as such both nationally and internationally. At
this stage, we expect that such an outcome can be achieved.”
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