Somaliland voters go to the polls

Voters in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, went to the polls on Thursday to elect 82 members of parliament.

Candidates from the opposition Kulmiye (Solidarity) and the Welfare and Justice parties are challenging those from the ruling party, the Union of Democrats. Some 246 candidates are vying for the parliamentary seats.

Some 800,000 of Somaliland's estimated 3.5 million people are eligible to vote.

The polls are Somaliland's third since it declared unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, following the collapse of the administration of former President Muhammad Siyad Barre.

Somaliland conducted municipal elections in December 2002, which were followed by the presidential poll in April 2003 in which the incumbent, Dahir Riyale Kahin, retained his post.

On Thursday, voters started lining up at the territory's 985 polling stations well before they opened officially at 0600 (0300 GMT).

Kahin was among the first of senior officials to vote. He and Vice-President Yusuf Ahmed Yassin cast their ballots at a polling station in the civil service headquarters in Hargeysa, the territory's capital.

"I hope the legislative election ends in peace," Kahin said after casting his vote. "I wish UDUB [the ruling party] members success. I hope the election will mark the completion of the democratisation process in Somaliland and will open the door for [international] recognition."

The leader of the Kulmiye Party, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud "Silanyo", who arrived at the polling station 30 minutes after Kahin had voted, said he regretted the death of three people on Wednesday in a poll-related violence in the town of Burao.

"It's unfortunate that such [an] incident occurred," Mohamud "Silanyo" said.

"There was a misunderstanding between Kulmiye supporters on how to distribute fuel among them. One among them got angry and opened fire killing three of his colleagues instantly and injuring three others," he added.

Justice and Welfare Party leader Faisal Ali Warabe said he was optimistic that the voting process would be smooth.

"I expect the process to continue and end smoothly, I anticipate my party to win a majority of the seats because our candidates are independent-minded and not affiliated to any clan," he said.

Asked to comment on claims by some other party leaders that he would form a coalition with the ruling party, Warabe said: "All those are baseless allegations and unfounded claims carried by my party detractors with the apparent aim of smearing my party name and me."

Authorities restricted the movement of vehicles in a bid to reduce the possibility of voters being transported to other polling stations to try and vote a second time.

According to the head of the 74-member foreign poll observer team in Somaliland, Steve Kibble, no major incidents had been reported by midday on Thursday.

"So far, since the voting commenced earlier today, I have not received any information indicating there being any obstacles experienced by observers in the six regions.

"There are only two minor incidents reported - one in Odweyn District in Toghdeer Region, where our team of observers were unable to reach the destination due to impassable roads after a heavy downpour last night," Kibble said.

The other incident was reported in Gabiley District, some 40 km northwest of Hargeysa, where in a fit of rage, a policeman grabbed an empty ballot box and ran with it. The box was later returned.

The team of poll monitors is drawn from Britain, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States and Zimbabwe.

Several incidents of violence were reported during the campaigns. In addition, the police seized 150 fake ballot papers on 22 September at the territory's main airport.

Somaliland has managed to avoid much of the anarchy that has dogged Somalia over the past 15 years. However, the territory is embroiled in a border dispute with the northeastern self-declared semi-autonomous region of Puntland over the regions of Sanaag and Sool.