Muse Bihis Kulmiye on the verge of winning Somaliland’s local votes
HARGEISA, Somalia – The ruling Kulmiye party is on the verge of winning a majority in Somaliland’s parliamentary and civic votes, based on the results released by the region’s electoral commission [NEC].
For the first time in history, at least 1 million voters got a chance to vote for their leaders in the secessionist region of Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but still gained international recognition.
Although the NEC had indicated that most of the results from Monday’s votes may have tipped in on Tuesday night, the bill continued for the most part on Wednesday when the Commission released preliminary results.
As expected, President Muse Bihi Abdis Kulmiye’s party expanded its leadership by removing 37 of the 61 parliamentary seats that had been vacated. The opposition Waddani party in Abdirahman Irro succeeded 21 while the Ucid party only got 3 seats.
The region has a total of 82 constituencies and 212 social regions where the governing party is still dominant. This means that the ruling party is only four [4] seats are shy to have absolute control over the House of People.
North Western of Somaliaheld parliamentary elections in 2005 and since then they have been subjected to unprecedented postponement, just like civic surveys held in 2012. At that time, the region still practiced the clan-based model, but it has since embraced universal suffrage.
According to an election expert in North Western of Somaliawho spoke with Garowe Online, the ruling party always strives to win municipal councils in the districts of Hargeisa, Berbera and Gabiley. These districts are important in the management of the region.
The ruling Kulmiye party has already won the Berbera district council election after the North Western of SomaliaElectoral Commission announced the results. Barbera’s City Council has 13 members and Kulmiye succeeded seven with UCID who came second with four seats.
The Kulmiye party was also ahead of Hudun-Sool, Gar-adag-Sanag, Teleeh-Sool and Lughaye-Awdal. All parties fought hard in North Western of Somaliawith Muse Bihi Abdi appearing in a number of cities within the Autonomous Region of Somalia.
Muse Bihi Abdi was first elected in 2017 and it is not clear if he will defend his place in the coming months. The election comes a few days after Somalia’s federal government and opposition leaders signed an agreement that would steer the reconciliation between Hargeisa and Mogadishu.
AXADLETM
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