Assessing the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Election by Dr Adan

CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................................................ 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3 Somaliland Elections ........................................................................................... 4 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 5 November 2017 presidential election................................................................... 7 Citizens’ concerns ................................................................................................................. 7 Citizens’ expectations ........................................................................................................... 9 Election dynamics ............................................................................................... 9 NEC as a key actor ................................................................................................................. 9 Political parties: views on electoral process ....................................................................... 10 The Media ........................................................................................................................... 13 Civil society actors ............................................................................................................... 14 International election observers ......................................................................................... 14 Security institutions ............................................................................................................ 15 Diaspora involvement ......................................................................................................... 17 Closing the gaps within the electoral system ..................................................... 18 Concluding remarks .......................................................................................... 19 Dr Adan Yusuf Abokor and Nasir M. Ali EXECUTIVE SUMMARY and the emergence of multi-party politics, the role of the diaspora in state building has In any democracy, the opportunity to vote declined. This is due to the emergence of (and be elected), and the freedom of divisions, occurring as various diaspora association, including the ability to form members have sided with politicians and join organizations and associations representing different political parties. concerned with political and public affairs, Political parties have, therefore, are necessary rights. In Somaliland, for contributed to a deeply divided society, almost two decades, these were considered both at home and abroad. customs, with the participation of citizens in the political process seen as being Somaliland’s political parties need urgent necessary. However, Somaliland’s citizens legal, institutional and political reform. This are always skeptical about the pledges of is necessary to accommodate all of the politicians during any campaign—knowing state’s intellectuals and elites, and also to that these often fail to materialize after a give a chance to those who have the politician has won office. Over the last ambition to run the state. decade, Somaliland’s citizens have increasingly lost trust in their politicians. A major problem for Somaliland’s political More reliable delivery of pledges made parties is that democracy within the parties during election campaigns would be one is either weak or, in reality, absent. This way to help restore this lost trust. means that the party old guard usually have the final say in nominating electoral The relationship between the citizen and candidates. the politician is not the only factor in understanding the context of democracy in The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is Somaliland. This is also negatively affected an institution in need of particular attention by the relationships between different from both the state and its citizens. political parties. While parties contest Countering the institutional weaknesses of politics bitterly, their relations mostly the NEC, including on the legal and remain friendly. Security institutions, civil administrative side, may help improve society actors, and donors have also played citizens’ trust in this institution. an active and constructive role, not only in Overcoming these weaknesses will not be this election, but more generally on an easy task. It will require the support of Somaliland’s road to becoming a viable the political parties, government and the multi-party democracy. friends of Somaliland from the international community, who have One of the most concerning examples of supported it since the inception of its citizen disengagement in this latest democracy. election was exemplified by the changing role of the Somaliland Diaspora. Previously, Of comparable importance to the NEC is the diaspora had actively participated in the Committee for the Registration of state and peace building endeavors in Political Associations and the Approval of Somaliland. However, since the start of Parties. This agency, which is tasked with Somaliland’s democratization processes, overseeing the behavior of the political 2 Assessing the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Election parties, has failed to perform its about their choice of leaders. Many people responsibility of holding parties feel that their leaders are not effective and accountable to their charters, rules and are nostalgic about the old days of directly regulations effectively. The weaknesses of appointed city mayors, some of whom the political parties are mainly caused by were thought to be particularly effective. the absence of a regulatory framework. The agency has failed to properly evaluate The participation of citizens in politics political parties or, subsequently, to force requires institutions to be permanently them to rectify the institutional accessible to the population, and also the weaknesses and gaps observed. If political sustained engagement of young people. In parties are to survive and adhere to its rules democratic societies, the participation of and regulations, the Committee should be citizens in politics is very important. In institutionalized under the auspices of the Somaliland, the consolidation and growth NEC. of citizen participation in democracy is an important context for this analysis. INTRODUCTION While the relationship between citizens and In May 2001, Somaliland’s citizens went to politicians is quite encouraging, the the polling stations to approve an interim politicians have not transformed their party constitution in a public referendum systems and structures as is needed. Many coordinated by the Government of people now see political parties as tools Somaliland. The constitution called for used to win control over the state, which multi-party politics and democratic they then abandon. elections. Since then, Somaliland has held a series of contested elections at different The central theme of this study is to analyze levels: local, parliamentary and and understand the controversies between the presidential. This makes Somaliland one of citizens and politicians; examine the viability of the few functioning constitutional the Somaliland electoral processes, the democracies in the Muslim world. challenges it faces; citizens’ perception of the electoral system in general and the 2017 Elections have become a familiar presidential election in particular. The major occurrence in Somaliland. They are seen as question this study attempts to answer is: why a pillar of democracy, enabling voters to do people vote for a particular party. Without a choose representatives who will exercise a doubt, the party system in Somaliland is clan- public mandate on their behalf. oriented, rather than national interest-driven. This hampers citizen participation as many When analyzing the participation of citizens in contemporary Somaliland citizens see parties as being dominated by a politics, there are two contradictory particular clan or allied clans against others. dimensions: first, the arena in which citizens involve themselves in politics is widening and, more broadly, people appear to be more active than ever before. Second, there is increasing citizen disenchantment 3 Dr Adan Yusuf Abokor and Nasir M. Ali SOMALILAND ELECTIONS political career—he later became Somaliland’s president.2 A decade after it declared its separation from the rest of Somalia in 1991, Following the 2002 and 2003 elections, Somaliland conducted its first national Somaliland continued its democratization election. Nine political associations, who process and conducted its third general registered to run in local elections, electoral process. In September 2005, participated. Somaliland conducted its first parliamentary election where political The election, held in December 2002, not parties participated. This was the first and only allowed citizens to elect their local the last parliamentary election conducted representatives, but also to determine the in Somaliland. The postponement of the official three political parties that would be parliamentary elections was a blow to registered as the only authorized political Somaliland’s democratization processes parties in Somaliland. The Justice and and has had a negative impact on its 3 Welfare Party (known as UCID); the Unity, citizens’ trust in electoral processes. Peace, and Development Party (known as Kulmiye); and

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