Opposition Parties Position Letter

HARGEISA, 24 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – It is difficult to imagine a situation where the same problem keeps reoccurring, and the same failed solution keeps being applied time and again. At some point lessons need to be learned and the lunacy of repeating the same experiment and expecting different results must come to an end. It is our contention that the moment is long overdue but has finally arrived!

We categorically reject the following demands for:-

1. Creating a new Voter List; election to be postponed again (third time) and a new election date be determined by a new Technical Team yet to be named; refusing Interpeace to be reinstated.

2. President’s term to be extended once again to match new election date.

3. Retaining the current Election Commissioners.

These demands if accepted will lead to the same predictable outcome, that will produce further inevitable delays that would necessitate once again for the president to ask for more time in office, and we find that condition simply intolerable. We believe it is time for the other side to accept his responsibilities and duties to the country and the International community and honor his previous commitments and existing laws.

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We strongly believe that the country will be better served if competing political parties are required to meet the same standard and are held accountable for their actions when there is clear evidence of wrong doing as the current situation illustrates.

We are committed to see that: –

1. Elections should take place on the 27th of September 2009 and no further delays or extensions to the president’s term should be considered. This clause was accepted and signed by the three parties when the term of the president was extended last time.

2. Interpeace should be reinstated and the introduction of a new technical team at this late stage of the game is deemed unnecessary and possibly harmful to the process.

3. The existing Voter List which was certified and approved as a valid list by Interpeace and an independent third party technical expert should be used to undertake the election.

It should be noted that the agreed code of conduct (signed by all three parties and NEC) stipulates that once the Voter List is presented to the parties, it should be accepted as it is.

4. The resolution by the NEC chair [with the support of the President] to hold elections without the Voter List violates Somaliland laws and established code of conduct. By consulting only with the president who is a candidate in this election, the NEC subverted existing law which mandates “that any modification of the registration process shall be approved through the agreement of NEC and the political parties”. (Voter Registration Act Art. 1, q).

This ill- fated decision violates the independence of NEC as an electoral authority and has no foundation since there is already a valid Voter List available. Therefore it is imperative that they be replaced with new members who can fulfill their duties without the burden of incompetence or blatant bias toward one entity (the president.)

5. If elections are not held in a timely fashion and according to the agreed date (27th of September, 2009) president Rayale’s term will end and a new neutral body (a care-taking government) must take the responsibility of running the government and overseeing a presidential election within sixty (60) days (27 Sept. to 29 November). The mandate of this body will end as soon as the elections are over and a winner is declared.

Given the track record of this president, past behavior is a good indicator of future actions. Therefore we resolve that it is time to acknowledge the reality on the ground and forgo the illusions and the empty promises that perhaps this time the president will come to his senses, that maybe he won’t renege on binding agreements yet again, or ignore the laws of the land when it suits him.

We call on the long standing friends of this beloved land of ours to stand with us and resist tyranny and the regressive conditions of one man’s rule in Somaliland.

Thank you,

Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo
Chairman Of KULMIYE Party ..

Mr Faisal Ali Warabe
Chairman Of UCID Party