Multiparty talks in Somaliland

The president of the self-declared state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, held talks with leaders of the officially registered political parties on Wednesday, a local source told IRIN. The meeting follows recent accusations levelled by the opposition that the recently formed UDUB (meaning pillar) party of President Egal would have an unfair advantage, in its capacity of being the ruling party, over the opposition parties in elections scheduled to be held in 2002. There are seven officially registered parties in Somaliland, including the ruling UDUB. The opposition was complaining that "UDUB cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections", and should not, therefore, be the only organisation preparing the election laws, the source said. A Somaliland parliamentary committee had been tasked to prepare the election laws, but the opposition was "arguing that they should have an input into the process". There has been no information on what the president and party leaders discussed, but they agreed to meet again on 7 October, the source told IRIN. Attempts by IRIN to obtain comment from the Somaliland administration were unsuccessful.