Tribal Hooliganism of Opposition Political Parties in Somaliland

The leaders of the two opposing parties in Somaliland must stop employing politics of tribal hooliganism and respect the law and order of the county. They must be ashamed to mobilize their clans to force the election in their favor and disregard the constitution of the country and its law.

The audacity of these two candidates is unbelievable, special behaving politically irresponsible after they were pardoned for their collaboration with the brutal regime of Siyad Barre. The same regime that killed hundreds of thousands of Somalilander and caused so much destruction that Somaliland is still reeling from.

It seems that they have never extracted themselves from the remnants of Siad Bare regime in Mogadishu who they are still in contact with, especially the candidate from Wadani, which some reliable sources attested that he is still in payroll.

When the Somali National Movement’s armed struggle against the brutal regime of Syad Barre was at its peak and brave men and women of Somaliland were in the trenches these two candidates were still employed in lucrative jobs by Siyad Barre. Ciro, the Wadani candidate was an ambassador in Russia and Faisal, the UCID candidate has a construction contract building housing units for revolutionary guards of Siyad Barre.

When the civil war started and shit hit the fan, both migrated to Finland where they were sipping cold iced tea at the sumptuous of their quarters. They only came back to Somaliland when the regime of Siyad Barre and his minnows of army were eradicated totally out of Somaliland. Somaliland prides itself for its democracy, security, and personal freedom unlike most of the countries in Africa. This is the result of thirty-one years of reconciliation, compromise, and collective agreement of its people to safeguard its nascent and fragile democracy. During these three decades, Somaliland had five presidential democratic elections, parliamentary and local elections peacefully on one person one vote. Therefore, there have been peaceful transfer of power five times. At one of those presidential elections, the incumbent president won with eighty votes and the runner up conceded without any provocation.

The leaders of the two opposition parties failed miserably in politics by sowing division and creating animosity among the great people of Somaliland. They lost the trust of the general population of the country, so they are resorting to coercion, deception, and an attempt to redefine the SNM struggle. They are disgrace to Somaliland and their political carrier is over.

I am not affiliated with any political party in Somaliland. I am merely stating what I have observed.

Hassan Elmi

California, USA