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First from left: Michael
Mariano, the Leader of NUF; Ali Garad Jama the leader of USP
(The second from left), Ahmed Haji Dualeh (Ahmed Keyse) (The
first from right); Phillip Carrel, Chief Secretary of the
British-Somaliland Protectorate (second from right); Mohamed
Haji Ibrahim Egal, the leader of SNL (The third from right) and
Sir Douglas Hall, the last British Governor to Somaliland
(the fourth from right) |
The Somali
National League kept their thought largely to them-selves, at any rate
in public, while the National United Front published their displeasure
in speeches. It was not long before the new party showed signs of
seeking an association with the Somali National League, and a short time
before the election a formal alliance was made. This was followed
rapidly by the publication of an association between the National United
Front and the small number of members of the Somali Youth League.
The stage was then set for a straight contest between two pairs of
parties, one member of each pair being considerably larger than the
other, but not a great deal of difference lying between the combined
contestants. The election presented some thorny and worrying problems of
maintenance of law and order. There were to be over 150 polling
stations, any one of which could become a major danger point at short
notice, especially if either the fall of rain or plain politics should
result in last minute movements of nomads of opposing parties or tribes.
Every policeman and every soldier in the Protectorate was deployed; and
I would like to pay tribute to the efforts made by the political leaders
to ensure that their supporters behaved them-selves. One of our main
worries was how the women would behave. They had no vote, but they were
surprisingly politically-conscious, and there is nothing that an
administrator dislikes more than a riot of women. However, the Somalis
themselves decided that the election should be orderly, and it was.
There were no incidents worthy of the name and for the whole of February
17th not a woman was to be seen. They had all been kept at home by their
husbands.
Nearly 82,000 men cast their votes, a number which is at least 80 per
cent and probably more nearly 90 per cent of the total adult male
population. The result was unusual and unexpected in detail. The Somali
National League/United Somali Party combine secured approximately 56,000
votes as against 25,000 won by their opponents. But the votes of the
winners gained them 32 out of the 33 seats.
It cannot often happen that a party which can claim nearly one-third of
all the votes cast, gains one seat only as a result. The detailed
results showed twenty seats for the Somali National League, twelve for
the United Somali Party, and one, Michael Mariano himself, for the
opposition.
Immediately after the election, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal was formally
acknowledged as the Leader of both Somali National League and the United
Somali Party, and I was left in no doubt as to whom I should consult
about the appointment of elected ministers. He gave me his advice on
26th February, and I appointed him as Minister of Local Government,
Ahmed Haji Dualeh as Minister of Natural Resources, and Ali Gerad Jama
and Haji Ibrahim Nur as Ministers of Works and Communications and Social
Services respectively. I also appointed Yusuf Ismail Samatar as an
Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Social Services. The first two
were members of the Somali National League, and the second two members
of the United Somali Party.
The Assistant Minister belonged to the Somali National League. With one
exception, all were fluent speakers of English and had had considerable
formal education. Haji Ibrahim Nur, although not completely happy in
English, was a fluent speaker and writer of Arabic and, as a successful
trader, had a fund of experience which he quickly began to put at the
disposal of the government of which he had become a part. It was not
long before the promises about immediate independence, which had been
made in pre-election speeches and in the Somali National League
manifesto, began to catch up on their makers.
I do not imply that there was any feeling against the attainment of
Independence ; but a number of Somalis -politicians, civil servants,
traders and elders-believed that there would be great advantage in a
short period of consolidation and the gaining of experience before the
next and the biggest step was taken. But they were in a small minority,
and it was not possible for them to come out into the open with pleas
for delay.
I have heard it said that we officials in the Government did not know
what was happening and which way the wind was blowing. This was not
true. I think we saw the way the picture was forming before some of the
political leaders. Events soon started moving rapidly; a motion asking
for Independence by 1st July was passed in the Legislative Council and
visits were paid to Mogadishu by leading political figures, who returned
to Hargeysa with assurances from their colleagues in Somalia that
amalgamation of the two countries was a mutual wish.
By Sir Douglas Hall, K.C.M.G
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