Somaliland: A radical change?
Although the international media has under-reported it, the world has recently witnessed a major event in the Horn of Africa - a free, fair and generally peaceful election in Somaliland.
On July 2, Isse Yusuf Mohamud, the chairman of Somaliland’s election commission, announced that Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, the leader of the opposition Kulmiye Party, won the presidential election with 49.59 per cent of the 538,246 votes cast. The incumbent president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, came a distant second with 33.23 per cent of the votes.
International observers declared the election “free and fair” and praised the conduct of political actors and stakeholders involved in the election campaign.
Even more significantly, unlike many leaders in the region, Kahin embraced the popular verdict and accepted defeat gracefully.
A peaceful transfer of power is now underway.