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Report on the Somaliland Presidential Election, 13Th November 2017

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The Bartlett Development Planning Unit International Election Observation Mission The limits of consensus? Report on the Somaliland Presidential Election, 13th November 2017 by Michael Walls, Conrad Heine, Andrea Klingel, Carrie Goggin, Ahmed Farag, Susan Mwape with input from Rooble Mohamed and Short-Term Observers. dpu Development Planning Unit DPU http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/ If a hard copy is required, please contact the De- velopment Planning Unit (DPU) at the address at the bottom of the page. Institutions, organisations and booksellers should supply a Purchase Order when ordering a copy of this report. Where multiple copies are ordered, and the cost of postage and package is significant, the DPU may make a charge to cover costs. Copyright of this report lies with the authors and there are no restrictions on it being published elsewhere in any version or form. Graphics and layout: Luz Navarro Cover photograph: © Kate Stanworth The Bartlett The Bartlett The Bartlett Development Planning Unit | The Bartlett | University College London The Bartlett 34 Tavistock Square - London - WC1H 9EZ Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 1111 - Fax: +44 (0)20 7679 1112 - www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu 1 International Election Observation Mission The limits of consensus? Report on the Somaliland Presidential Election, 13th November 2017 by Michael Walls, Conrad Heine, Andrea Klingel, Carrie Goggin, Ahmed Farag, Susan Mwape with input from Rooble Mohamed and Short-Term Observers. March 2018 Acknowledgements. We would like to express our help with transport, Saferworld (Abdijalil Dahir Afqarshe) appreciation to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for providing additional observers, transport and for shar- (FCO) for providing the funding for the international elec- ing photographs taken by the photographer Kate Stan- tion observation mission and in particular to Rosie Tapper worth, and to the Maan-Soor Hotel for their flexibility and and Edward Prior for their support. responding helpfully to additional requests. We thank the Somaliland National Electoral Commis- We would like to thank the Hargeisa Cultural Centre, Dr sion (NEC) and its support staff, plus Andy Hill and Jama Musse Jama, Mahamed Deeqsi Salah, Ismaaciil, Saeed Hussein at mediatrain, political party repre- Nasra and all others at the Centre for helping to ensure sentatives, ministers and officials and the Somaliland smooth operations. security forces and intelligence services for their co- Special care was provided by Edna Adan Hospital and operation and advice. We are also grateful for support Edna Adan herself when one of our observers injured her- from the Somaliland Non-State Actors' Forum (SON- self, which was greatly appreciated. SAF), International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), We would like to extend particular appreciation to all Inspire Group, Somaliland Journalists' Association those who volunteered their time and expertise to assist (SOLJA), Somaliland Women in Journalism Association the Mission, Tirsit Yetbarek Seme (Social Media Coordi- (WIJA), Guleid Ahmed Jama (Human Rights Centre), nator), Adnan Abdo, Fathi Bashe and the absolutely vital Interpeace and the Rift Valley Institute (especially Mark contributions of our 55 short-term observers. Bradbury and Dr Adan Abokor). Aly Verjee provided in- Finally, we reiterate our thanks to the Somaliland people valuable guidance and advice. for their commitment to peace and democracy, and the Our gratitude for assistance with logistical arrangements warm welcome we received. And we ask anyone we have extends to Airi Kähärä at International Solidarity Founda- neglected to mention to forgive us the oversight and also tion (Finland) and Hinda Abdi at Rainbow Logistics for their to accept our grateful thanks. Contents Executive Summary 5 6. Election day observations/assessment 30 1. Introduction 7 6.1. Opening of polling stations 30 6.2. Voting process 30 1.1. The Development Planning Unit (DPU) at 7.3. Closing and counting 32 UCL and Somaliland Focus (UK) 7 1.2. International Election Observation Mission 7. Post-election observations/assessment 33 (IEOM) and elections 7 1.2.1. Mandate 8 7.1. Tabulation of results 33 1.2.2. Structure 8 7.2. Declaration of results 33 1.2.3. Methodology 9 7.3. Post-electoral tensions and outcome 34 1.2.4. Observation coverage 10 1.2.5. IEOM approach to media monitoring and 8. Conclusion and recommendations 35 engagement 12 8.1. National Electoral Commission 35 2. International election observation in 8.2. Political parties 35 Somaliland 15 8.3. Women's organisations 36 8.4. Other civil society organisations 36 2.1. Political background and elections 16 8.5. Judicial and legislative bodies 36 2.1.1. Presidential candidates and political 8.6. Media 36 parties 16 2.1.2. Legislative framework for elections 17 9. Conclusion 37 References 38 3. Electoral institutions and stakeholders 19 Appendix 1: IEO press releases 39 3.1. National Electoral Commission (NEC) 19 3.2. Legal bodies 19 Appendix 2: Declaration of Principles for 3.2.1. Electoral dispute resolution 20 International Election Observation and 3.3. Civil society 21 Code of Conduct for International Election 3.3.1. Women's participation 21 Observers 45 3.3.2. Youth participation 21 3.3.3. Participation of marginalised groups 22 4. Media and the election 23 4.1. Media landscape in Somaliland 23 4.2. Media coverage of the election 24 4.3. Media freedom 25 4.3.1. Harassment of journalists and media outlets 25 4.3.2. Social media ban 25 5. Pre-election observations/assessment 26 5.1. Voter registration 26 5.2. Civic and voter education 27 5.3. Political parties and candidate nomination 27 5.4. Political campaigning 28 5.4.1. Campaigning and campaign finance 29 4 List of figures List of acronyms and abbreviations 1.1. IEOM training: © Michael Walls ACDEG - African Charter on Democracy, Elections and 1.2. IEOM team: © Mustafa Saeed Governance 1.3. Dawn deployment: © Michael Walls ACHPR - African Commission on Human Rights and 1.4. Somaliland map: © Michael Walls Peoples' Rights 1.5. Media coverage : © Michael WallsMichael Walls ADR - alternative dispute resolution 2.1. Indelible ink: © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld APD - Academy for Peace and Development 2.2. The three presidential candidates: © Kate Stan- BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation worth/Saferworld CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 3.1. Proportion of female voters observed by polling Discrimination Against Women station. CSO - civil society organisation 3.2. Proportion of female officials observed by occupation. DPU - Development Planning Unit 5.1. Media monitoring. Credit:© Michael Walls EMC - Electoral Monitoring Committee 5.2. Registered women : © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld ETF - Election Task Force 5.3. Voter education : © Michael Walls FCO - UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office 5.4. Levels of voter awareness of procedures as reported IEOM - International Election Observation Mission to observer. Kulmiye - Peace, Unity and Development Party 5.5. UCID, Kulmiye and Waddani campaigns : © Kate LTO - long-term observer Stanworth/Saferworld NEC - National Electoral Commission 5.6. Kulmiye supporters : © IEOM NGO - non-governmental organisation 6.1. Queue for voting : © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld NORDEM - Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and 6.2. Observer rating of quality of polling day processes. Human Rights 6.3. Casting ballot : © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld Figure OAU - Organisation of African Unity 6.4. Suitability of polling stations and procedures for ODIHR - Office for Democratic Institutions and Human disabled voters. Rights 6.5. Checking register. © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld OSCE - Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe 6.6. Showing ballot. © Kate Stanworth/Safer-world RFI - Radio France Internationale 6.7. Party agents. © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld SOLJA - Somaliland Journalists Association 8.1. Observer evaluation of tally centres. SONSAF - Somaliland Non-State Actors Forum 8.2. Tallying. © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld SPU - Special Protection Unit 8.3. Polling day. © Kate Stanworth/Saferworld STO - short-term observer UCID - Justice and Welfare Party UCL - University College London UCLC - UCL Consultants Ltd UDHR - Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDUB - United People's Democratic Party UNDP - United Nations Development Programme VPN - virtual private network Waddani - National Party WIJA - Somaliland Women in Journalism Association 5 Executive Summary This report presents the findings of the International The mission assembled a team of 60 observers from 27 Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to Somaliland's countries, selected to balance gender, nationality and third presidential election, held on November 13th 2017. relevant experience. This included a five-member Coor- The election saw three candidates competing to replace dination Team (Chief Observer, Election Analyst, Legal the incumbent, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud 'Silanyo' Analyst, Media Coordinator, Logistical Manager), which of the Kulmiye ('Peace, Unity and Development')party: made logistical arrangements and observed pre- and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi 'Irro' for the Waddani post-election activities as well as election day itself and ('National') party; Faisal Ali Warabe for the UCID ('Jus- including campaigning activity. tice and Welfare') party; and Muse Bihi Abdi for Kulmiye. Each ticket also included a vice presidential candidate. After intensive training in Hargeisa, the observation team deployed across Somaliland for election day, covering The Development Planning Unit (DPU) at University
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