Somaliland passed yet another stern test on democracy on Tuesday in the election of its parliamentary leadership.
Coming just two months after the country held its first-ever joint parliamentary and municipality elections which turned peaceful and saw the opposition win most of the seats, in parliament, an opposition representative MP Abdirizak Khalif was elected speaker beating former foreign affairs minister Yasin Faratoon.
President Muse Bihi who is working towards revamping his ruling Kulmiye party after the parliamentary elections that saw the opposition Waddani and UCID jointly win more seats said the elections of the House Speaker was a clear testimony of mature democracy in Somaliland.
“I congratulate the new Parliament on its commencement today and the six candidates who have run for the three leadership seats in the Parliament, and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
Congratulations to the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, and the former Speaker of the Parliament, who took the lead today and governed the session in a just way befitting our nation.”
“The elections in the House is another victory for Somaliland, and the enemy is saddened by the victory and the reconciliation that has taken place,” he added.
He said the success in the elections underlined that the national victory of Somaliland is for all and cannot be claimed by any party or individual.
“Today, all of Somaliland has won and not a single man or a party. We welcome the newly elected Speaker of the Parliament and his deputies. It was a close race and congratulations to their opponents for graciously accepting the results.”
