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Elections are supposed to have consequences. One of these obvious
consequences is that the winning party gets a chance to govern. But
elections could also have other consequences that go beyond a change of
the guard. Somaliland is one case where the voters were very aware that
the election will not only decide who will be their future leaders but
will decide whether their country will be treated by the international
community as a worthy partner or as a failed experiment. Somalilanders
were aware that they were taking a huge risk and that the stakes were
high. But they took the risk because they had faith in their democratic
heritage and their own capacity to determine their own destiny.
Fortunately, Somalilanders’ faith in themselves proved to be justified
and Somaliland’s election were certified by the international community
as free and fair. With this successful election, Somalilanders view
themselves as having fulfilled their end of the bargain and now are
looking towards the international community to do their part and help in
consolidating Somaliland’s gains by offering economic assistance and
raising the level of their engagement with Somaliland to that of
interacting with a sovereign and democratic country.
By taking these steps, the international community would not be
performing an altruistic act but will be doing something that is very
much in its own interests: not only it will be denying to terrorists a
chance to operate in an area of vital importance to international
security, it would also be helping in establishing a Somali democratic
model that provides a counter-narrative to al-Shabaab’s terrorist model.
But even though the ball is now in the court of the international
community, Somaliland’s new government still has the responsibility to
present to the international community coherent development plans with
facts and figures. The reply of UK’s Department for International
Development (DFID) to Michael Crockart’s question regarding post
election development assistance to Somaliland is an encouraging sign. So
is the Nairobi meeting about the much-delayed Berbera Corridor. But it
is imperative that these signs are translated soon to tangible programs
so that Somaliland’s people would conclude that their faith in democracy
was not misplaced. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
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