Ruling party wins Somaliland parliamentary polls

The ruling party in Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland won more seats than its two opposition challengers in September’s legislative polls, the region's election commission reported on Saturday. The Union of Democrats won 33 of the 82 seats in parliament, while the opposition Kulmiye (Solidarity) and Justice and Welfare (UCID) parties took 28 and 21 seats respectively. Ahmed Ali Adami, chairman of Somaliland's National Electoral Commission (NEC), announced the results at a news conference in the enclave's capital, Hargeysa. Some 246 candidates competed for the parliamentary seats. Two of the seven women candidates were elected. "I will use this opportunity together with my colleague to raise [awareness of the] plight of women and youths, which has been ignored for a long period of time by our leaders," said Ikraan Haji Daud Warsame, who was elected on a Kulmiye party ticket to represent a constituency in the western town of Borama. Adami said that poll results would be forwarded to the country's Supreme Court for confirmation. He advised candidates with complaints over the outcome to seek redress from the court. In separate interviews, the leaders of the two opposition parties said they would respect the results. "On behalf of UCID, we have accepted the parliamentary results," said Faisal Ali Warabe, the party's chairman. "We decided to overlook minor shortcomings for the sake of the country's interests, the important one being the quest for [international] recognition." Somaliland, in the northwest of Somalia, has been seeking international recognition as a separate state since it declared itself a republic in 1991, after the overthrow of the administration of Somalia’s president Muhammad Siyad Barre. Unlike the rest of Somalia, which has been wracked by factional warfare since 1991, Somaliland has remained relatively calm. A 76-strong team of observers from Britain, Canada, Finland, Kenya, South Africa, the US and Zimbabwe monitored the polls. They issued a statement on 3 October that the elections were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere and were generally free and fair. They added, however, that the vote had fallen short of meeting several international standards.