Somaliland: Kulmiye is closer to Gaining the Gavel of the House

In the Somaliland capital – Hargeisa – the opposition parties and the ruling Kulmiye with the backing of its government are fiercely lobbying for the leadership of the new House of Representatives.

Wadani and UCID parties, after uniting their forces, hold the majority in the House of Representatives and vying to take control of the House of Representatives Leadership by concentrating their efforts on securing House Chairmanship, as well as First and Second Vices in order to keep the current administration on its toes .

However, the KULMIYE party – which is chaired by President Muse Bihi Abdi – on its part is also working hard to get the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives for its newly elected MP – Yassin Haji Mohamud Hiir (Faratoon) who held the portfolio of Foreign Ministry and the International Cooperation just before the onset of recent elections.

Wadani and Ucid jointly have 52 members in the 82-member House of Representatives, which means that Kulmiye received only 30 seats in the election, making it impossible for the party to aspire winning the House leadership with its MPs votes alone.

However, the KULMIYE party, which has not yet given up, is using various tactics to persuade some opposition newly elected representatives to vote for its choice – Yassin Haji Mohamud Hiir (Faratoon) who is nominated for the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to latest updates obtained by the newspaper “Geeska” from various sources indicate that the KULMIYE party has managed to win the trust and votes of about 10 newly elected MPs from the opposition parties, who have given up their party allegiance in exchange for political interests not to support the choice of their leaders who want MP Abdirizak Khalif Ahmed of Wadani from Sool region to be elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The newly born coalition between Kulmiye party and a faction within the Ucid party have agreed to nominate Prof. Yassin Haji Mohamud Hiir (Faratoon) as the next chairman, MP Saeed Mire Farah (Giire) as first vice chairman, and MP Abdinasir Yusuf Osman (Qodax) as the second vice chairman.

The trust or the bond between the candidates and their political parties is not whatsoever deeply routed on issues and principles as the platforms represented by the political parties in Somaliland are not different at all, their sole existence is acting only as tool or vehicle enabling candidates to be on the ballot. The candidate’s vote is from his clan and the party has no influence on it at all.

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has previously made it clear that he will work hard to have Faratoon as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives

So far, it is clear that the government and its Kulmiye party are engaged in a vigorous campaign that is taking on a new dimension by the minute.