Somaliland Election Update

Im not going to lie to you. Despite my pre-election post regarding the issue, I forgot to post the outcome of Somalilands first legislative election. A team of 76 observers from Canada, Finland, Kenya, South Africa, the UK, the U.S and Zimbabwe (hmmm) monitored the vote. According to this group the elections were conducted in a peaceful condition and were generally free and fair, however, the vote had fallen short of several international standards.

Well 11 days late heres how it shaped up:

For Unity, Democracy, and Independence: 33 Seats

Peace, Unity, and Development Party: 28 Seats

For Justice and Development: 21 Seats
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Total Seats: 82 Seats

For Unity, Democracy, and Independence, the ruling party, took a fairly narrow victory and will need the support of the two opposition groupings to pass legislation. Two women were able to make it into parliament, significant progress for a country with a poor history of female involvement in politics.

"I will use this opportunity together with my colleague to raise [awareness of the] plight of women and youths, which has been ignored for a long period of time by our leaders," - Ikraan Haji Daud Warsame

The best news of all was that even the two opposing parties agreed the ballot was representative of the peoples wishes.

"Unlike previous elections, this one was indisputable." - Yusuf Mohamed Guled of 'For Justice and Development'

So good news all round. The long march towards international recognition has taken another step.