By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Opposition leader, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro” has been declared winner of the presidential election in the breakaway Somaliland, defeating incumbent Muse Bihi Abdi.
Independent observers described the election as peaceful.
Irro, candidate for the Waddani (National) party won 63.92% of the vote, while his main challenger, Bihi secured 34.81% according to tally released by the electoral commission on Tuesday.
A third candidate for the presidency in the region located on the Horn of Africa, Faysal Ali Warabe, received 0.74% of the votes.
The election was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but was delayed due to political differences.
Bihi, who defeated Irro in the last election in 2017, promised during the campaign that he would respect the results of the election.
Irro ran on a platform of change, promising to create a brighter future for the people of Somaliland, including more work and job opportunities for women.
Somaliland in 1991 declared its independence from Somalia.
Till date, Somalia sees Somaliland as its northern breakaway region, not as an independent nation.
Its location near Djibouti puts it close to the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa and the first overseas base for China.
The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to Somaliland’s presidential elections said the elections took place in a “mostly calm and peaceful environment where registered voters were able to exercise their right to vote during the day.”
IEOM said it did not observe any serious irregularities or electoral malpractice, although observers noticed procedural and administrative inconsistencies that could be addressed by better training.
The mission said it “identified a number of issues that electoral authorities could address including making sure that the secrecy of the vote is upheld in future elections and that the voter register is updated more regularly and closer to the holding of elections to ensure it is up-to-date.”
“In addition, voters need to be better informed about voting procedures,” the mission added in an assessment of the election.
All candidates promised to strengthen democracy, boost economic growth and seek international recognition for the breakaway region.
This is the fourth presidential election since the region on the northwestern tip of Somalia broke away from the rest of the country, following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.
The territory declared independence that year but has never achieved international recognition.
Despite this, Somaliland has a functioning government and institutions, a political system that has allowed democratic transfers of power between rival parties, its own currency, passport and armed forces.
