2003 Somaliland presidential election
The 2003 Somaliland presidential election took place on April 14, 2003. The president of the de facto independent Somaliland (north of Somalia ) was elected. The incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin from the UDUB party narrowly prevailed with 42.08% of the vote against Ahmed Mohammed Mahamoud Silanyo from the Kulmiye party with 42.07%. The candidate Faysal Ali Warabe of the UCID reached 15.85% share of the vote.
It was the first time since Somaliland's declaration of independence in 1991 that the President and Vice-President had been democratically elected; previously, assemblies of clan elders and later the council of elders as the upper house of the parliament appointed by the clans had appointed the governments and decided on their terms of office.
Conducting the elections
After the death of President Mohammed Haji Ibrahim Egal in May 2002, the previous Vice President Dahir Riyale Kahin took over the presidency in accordance with the constitution.
The presidential election was originally due to take place a month before his term of office expires in February 2003. However, they were postponed to April and the government's term of office was extended by three months because of insufficient voter registration. The parliamentary elections should actually have taken place together with the presidential elections, but were postponed because the relevant electoral laws could not be passed in time due to differences over the determination of the constituencies and the distribution of parliamentary seats by region. They would be held in 2005 .
The Somaliland government contributed US $ 1 million to fund the elections through the NEC Electoral Commission, and various European donor countries provided technical assistance and funded education programs for voters.
In terms of program, the three parties did not differ significantly from one another, especially since all of them supported Somaliland's independence and a liberal economic system. Ultimately, the personality of the candidates and their clan membership were more decisive criteria for voters. The UDUB emphasized above all its government experience and the successes of its previous governments. Kulmiye promised in their campaign "change" (Change) , a more efficient government and more participation for women. UCID particularly appealed to younger voters by promising stronger welfare elements with increased investment in education and health, and a stronger role for women.
There were allegations that the UDUB had taken advantage of its position as an existing ruling party by using government vehicles for its election campaign or by “buying” voters by issuing new Somaliland shillings before the elections . For its part, the opposition Kulmiye Party is said to have invested at least as much in its campaign, drawing its funds from donations from the Somaliland diaspora and business people.
International election observers criticized some irregularities - such as the poor organization of some polling stations and multiple voting, as observed in the cities of Hargeysa and Burao - but generally gave a positive assessment of these elections.
Result
| UDUB | Kulmiye | UCID | Number of votes |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awdal | 65.75% | 25.19% | 9.06% | 65,930 |
| Hargeysa | 37.98% | 39.06% | 22.96% | 209.372 |
| Saaxil | 57.48% | 33.63% | 8.88% | 30,537 |
| Sanaag | 40.32% | 48.03% | 11.65% | 57,938 |
| Sool | 38.29% | 56.94% | 4.77% | 9,702 |
| Togdheer | 33.12% | 55.19% | 11.69% | 115.064 |
| Total | 42.08% | 42.07% | 15.85% | 488,543 |
Of 488,543 votes, UDUB and Dahir Riyale Kahin won 205,595 (42.08%) and was very close ahead of Silanyo von Kulmiye with 205,515 votes (42.07%), who led in four of the six regions. With 15.85% of the votes for Warabe, the UCID was well behind in third place.
The narrow result with just 80 votes difference in favor of the UDUB caused discussions, especially since a victory for the Kulmiye party was generally expected. There were small protests in Burao and Gabiley , further protests were stopped by the imposition of emergency laws. Supporters of Silanyo urged that he should not accept the defeat or even form a counter-government. However, Silanyo refrained from doing so or openly blaming the government and the electoral commission, referring to Mogadishu , southern Somalia, where the conflict between warlords Aidid and Ali Mahdi over the presidency had contributed significantly to the civil war in Somalia .
However Kulmiye turned to the Supreme Court (Supreme Court) , so that this check the results. After hearing UDUB, Kulmiye and the electoral commission for three days, the court announced the UDUB's victory on May 11 with a margin of 214 votes. On May 16, Dahir Riyale Kahin was inducted into his new term. Kulmiye initially questioned the independence of the courts from the government - as some Somali media have been doing for some time - but accepted their defeat after another three weeks after mediation by clan elders.
swell
- Mark Bradbury: Becoming Somaliland , 2008, ISBN 978-1-84701-310-1 (pp. 190-195)
- Report on the parliamentary elections 2005 of the International Republican Institute, with result tables for the presidential elections 2003 ( PDF ; 429 kB)
