The ‘Leader’ of Waddani opposition party, Hersi Ali Haj Hassan, released, Wednesday, a six-point proposal which appears to be a fresh set of hurdles opposing the time set for the forthcoming Somaliland parliament elections.
The Leader, who is, incidentally, neither the Chairman nor the Vice Chairman, stated in his press release that elections were not possible unless the areas he outlined were adequately attended to.
Mr Hersi said it was imperative that immediate, national action be taken on proposed areas for elections to happen.
The press release underlines:
- A new Commission that has the full support of all stakeholders must be instated
- Seats allocation ought to be equitably resolved
- Election budget need be drawn and settled long before the election is held
- Commensurate parliamentary election bills must be passed, ratified and enacted
- Adequate consideration be accorded minorities and women and their quotas insured
- The Guurti (Upper House) must set a date on municipal council elections whose term in office is drawing to an end
Except for the first, Commission-related point, the rest seem to go against the grain of how the party Chairman, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Irro’, welcomed the time set for the elections on Monday.
Points 2, 3, and 4 alone have the potential to drag on for years before they are adequately resolved – if at all.
Some observers point out that Hersi’s 66-point manifesto is designed to serve as a deniable proposal since, in actual fact, he, essentially, does not hold any credible position in the institutional, mandated hierarchy set for national political parties. The actual party leaders – Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Secretary General – can come up with their own version at any time depending on how things develop or how any new set of conditions suits them or irks them.
Leaders of the three national parties all voiced approval one way or the other. That, perhaps, explains the consternation felt on this latest set of conditions coming out at this particular junction of time making observers wonder if Waddani was, indeed, a party unified in outlook and vision and not of several divergent camps.
The Somaliland Guurti House set the date for parliamentary elections on 12 December 2019, extending the term of incumbent parliament to a month after the elections to give time to release of results as mandated.
Referring to the insistence of Waddani on disbandment of electoral Commissioners which the Chairman so consistently laced in all of his public appearances and slanted references he made on iniquities he said were evident in how government treated Awdal demands on fair-share, agreements with Khatumo and women/minorities quotas, the government lashed out at the party on Tuesday. It accused it of responsibility for all delays to the elections – past and present due to its propensity to come up with unworkable demands and hurdles on the last possible moments.
READ ALSO: ‘Waddani Completely Accountable for Election Delays’, Government Says
Hersi has been the subject of much controversy since he left the government of his leader and mentor, President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud ‘Siilaanyo’ in October 2015 along with over twenty more ministers and officials in prominent positions he influenced, most of whom he, later, led to join Waddani party.
READ ALSO: 10 of a Planned 21 Resign out of the Somaliland Cabinet of Ministers + Video
The style and content of a book he published of his political journey, recently, ‘From the Bush to the Presidency’, also raised many eyebrows attracting much criticism.
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