Michael Walls - co-coordinator of the international election observer mission to Somaliland - has issued a report bemoaning the repeated postponement of the presidential election.

In his report for the Chatham House think-tank, he says that if the situation is not resolved, the territory will inevitably lose many of the gains it has made since breaking away from Somalia.

Somaliland's stability has surprised many people. Although no country has recognised its independent status, it has managed to avoid many of the problems encountered by its neighbours.

This is partly because it has developed a unique hybrid system of government.

A traditional house of elders or "guurti" is combined with other more modern institutions. There is a limited system of democracy, whereby only three political parties are allowed to exist.

This mixture of the modern and the traditional has been a largely effective way of governing. But recent developments put all this at risk.

"With international attention focused on piracy off the Puntland coast, the rise of militant Islam in southern Somalia, and the threat this is perceived to represent to international security and global terrorism, the potential for deterioration in Somaliland must surely be cause for concern," says Mr Walls.

The current tension in Somaliland centres on the postponement of the presidential election, which was due to have been held on 27 September.

This is not the first time the vote has been delayed - it has been postponed at least three times since last year.

President Dahir Riyale Kahin's term in office - which was meant to run out in May 2008 - has been extended several times.

It is currently due to expire on 29 October, and it is unclear what will happen after that.

Fist-fight

This uncertainty has led to increased concern about Somaliland in the international community, and a flare-up of political animosity within the territory.

In September, for example, there was a fist-fight in parliament during discussions about a possible impeachment of the president. One MP is even reported to have drawn a gun, although no shots were fired.

Mr Walls says one of the main reasons for the repeated postponement of the polls is what he has described as the incompetence of the national electoral commission.

"Fears are widespread that the electoral commissioners will find themselves incapable of providing the organisation required for a successful presidential election," he says.

"Even if an election date was agreed, the commission wouldn't be able to organise the vote."

Another problem has been the inability of Somaliland's three political parties to agree on a voters' register.

The previous presidential election in April 2003 was held without a register. But as President Riyale won by the narrowest of margins - just 80 votes - it was widely agreed that a more robust system was required to help avoid future problems.

The compilation of a voters' register has been fraught with difficulty.

"The process has been marred by astonishingly widespread fraud and mismanagement", says Mr Walls.

More than half of those who registered did so without providing a readable fingerprint. Many people were registered without being photographed - instead, they brought their own pictures, which were held up in front of a camera and photographed.

There has been no widespread population count in Somaliland since the 1970s, and there is great sensitivity about the compilation of a new voters' register because it is likely to provide a different picture of the region, altering the balance of power between the clans.

This could have serious political implications, altering voting patterns and possibly the outcome of elections.

Animosity remains

The government of Somaliland insists there is no serious cause for concern about the political situation.

"There is no crisis in Somaliland. I accept there are some problems but these are mainly caused by the lack of economic development," says Adam Musse Jibril, Somaliland's representative in the UK.

Mr Jibril said people had to trust the territory's record of resolving political disputes.

"Somaliland has been able to achieve this by combining modern democratic systems with our traditional value systems, where people sit under a tree to talk, argue, and eventually reach a consensus," he says.

But political animosity remains. Mohamed Omar of the opposition Kulmiye party says he does not believe the government will honour a memorandum of understanding recently agreed on a possible way out of the political impasse.

Mr Walls says it is not too late for Somaliland. But he says a presidential election must be held as soon as possible.

"The dangers of instability and authoritarianism characteristic of a number of Somaliland's neighbours can still be averted, but the traditions of dialogue still urgently need to be reactivated", he says.

Source: BBC, Oct 08, 200

U.N.: Little pledged aid paid up for Somali security  

By Patrick Worsnip
Thursday, Oct 08, 2009

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Less than one-third of the aid that international donors pledged six months ago to help Somalia's government boost security and fight piracy has been received, U.N. officials said on Thursday.

The donors agreed at an April 23 conference in Brussels to provide almost $214 million to help the embattled interim government end 18 years of lawlessness in the east African country and off its coast.

The aim was to build up a police force of some 10,000 personnel and a security force of 5,000, and to bolster the African Union AMISOM peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which currently stands at 5,000.

But U.N. officials said less than $70 million had been received so far. They could not immediately say which countries had failed to pay up.

Briefing a Security Council meeting on Somalia on Thursday, U.N. political chief Lynn Pascoe said the Brussels pledges "need to be fulfilled immediately."

"The most critical element for the international community's assistance is speed," he said. "Money received today in Somalia will have a far greater impact on stability than that which arrives in three months' time."

Fighting between the government and Islamist rebel groups has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.7 million from their homes.

Despite foreign naval patrols, attacks on ships by Somali pirates have soared, reaching 148 in the first half of 2009. Thirty-one hijackings were successful, netting tens of millions of dollars for the pirates. Diplomats say the lawlessness on land is a major cause of the piracy.

Pascoe said he would meet key donors on Friday to discuss the fulfillment of pledges.

Somalia and other African countries have urged the United Nations to send a full-fledged peacekeeping force to take over from AMISOM.

While the world body has made contingency plans for such a force, the Security Council has been leery of sending peacekeepers into a raging conflict, and several speakers in Thursday's debate said the time was still not right.

Somalia's U.N. ambassador, Elmi Ahmed Duale, addressing the council, repeated an AU call for the international community to blockade Somali ports and monitor rebel-held Somali airports to prevent supplies and manpower reaching the Islamists.

He also renewed AU calls for U.N. sanctions against "spoilers," in a clear reference to Eritrea, which a U.N. monitoring group says has channeled arms and other supplies to the rebels. Eritrea denies the charge.

British Ambassador John Sawers told the council London would support such action.

"The council will need to give serious consideration to the African Union's requests over the coming weeks," Sawers said.

Some council diplomats, however, said they saw little likelihood of action in the near future.

Source: Reuters, Oct 08, 2009