Muse Bihi’s Kulmiye loses North Western of Somaliaelection as women miss parliamentary seats
HARGEISA – Abdirahman Irro, the chairman of the Waddani party, who is also targeting a stab in the 2022 presidential elections, caused a major shock in the last elections in North Western of Somaliaafter his party managed to overtake the ruling Kulmiye party.
More than a million people had the opportunity to vote in their first-ever direct elections in the secessionist state of northern Somalia, whose democratic principles did not receive praise from members of the international community .
But it is the end result that could spark a heated debate, especially over the safety of President Muse Bihi Abdi, whose Kulmiye party has struggled to maintain the grip of the 82 members of parliament, which is critical in shaping government policies and streamline budgets.
The Waddani party won with large margins in Awadal, Togdher and Sanaag regions to establish a net margin, but the ruling Kulmiye party managed to record victories in Sool, Sahil and Maroodijeex, although the final results did not cannot favor them in their grip of parliament.
Overall, the Waddani party won 31 seats in parliament while Kulmiye won 30 seats. However, the phenomenal performance of the UCID party, another opposition formation that won 21 seats, is a blow to Kulmiye, who will now lose the seat of president among other parliamentary leadership seats.
Several African observers, including the former president of Sierra Leone, gave the polls a flawless health check, arguing that the result shows North Western of Somaliais ready to be a game-changer in the Horn of Africa. The region is still fighting for international recognition despite a government parallel to that of Mogadishu.
Zero woman at home
But more worrying still, no woman was elected to sit in parliament despite the fact that there were quite a few among the 246 candidates vying for parliamentary seats. None of them managed to beat the men in the 82 constituencies.
Somaliland, like Somalia, is a patriarchal society and there have been calls for positive action to promote women’s leadership. But encouragingly, three women did manage to be elected in civic polls of the 212 up for grabs.
“Bittersweet North Western of Somaliaelected young and amazing advisers and MPs, of which Barkhad Batuun, the minority candidate for the House of Representatives, got the most votes in North Western of Somaliahistory for the MP, we broke a chain injustice, but we still have one, zero representatives, ”noted Ayan Mohamoud, former North Western of Somaliarepresentative in the UK.
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