Press Statement on 26th June 2010 Somaliland Presidential Elections – Iqbal Jhazbhay

Somaliland’s huge success!

In my capacity as Professor at the University of South Africa, I was honoured to witness Somaliland’s 2010 Presidential Elections over a 7 day period (22 to 29 June 2010). A veritable feast for field-researchers and NEPAD political activists for good governance!
Indeed, this 2^nd historic Somaliland Presidential election is a huge success. The peaceful transfer of power via the ballot box, and the credible democratic election process – a rarity, is an additional boon to Somaliland’s reputation as ‘Africa’s best-kept secret’.
My best congratulations to the winner, President-elect Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo, and to President Dahir Rayale Kahin, AND Mr. Faisal Warabe, for the graceful acceptance of the results. (Kulmiye – 49.59%, Udub  – 33.23%, Ucid -17.18%).
Having the rare opportunity to observe Somaliland’s 2001 referendum, its 1^st democratic 2003 Presidential elections as well as the 1^st 2005 democratic Parliamentary elections, I am heartened to notice:

1. The increasing international press coverage of Somaliland’s 2010 elections. Clearly, Somaliland’s ‘best-kept secret’ is being made more public in many corners of the world!
2. The ‘transparent’ expression of the will of the Somaliland people on polling day, in spite of threats from Muslim extremist forces, is additional testimony of the people’s resilient desire for peace, stability and a better Somaliland.
3. The passion of the young university graduates, notably women, and the smooth running of the electoral polling stations is a commendable feature, worthy of emulation in Africa and beyond.  In this context, the National Electoral Commission leadership, its team members, should be congratulated for the good electoral preparations. Face Technologies of South Africa, for executing its tender of preparing the election identity cards.
4. In spite of the intense international focus of South Africa hosting the World Cup Soccer, many citizens of the world made time to observe Somaliland’s 2010 elections. The Norwegian, Finnish, UK, and US election observer teams come to mind.
5. Many friends of Somaliland now await the inauguration day of President-elect Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo and the peaceful transfer of power.  May Somaliland’s path to development and democracy continue! It can count on its friends, as Somaliland re-doubles its efforts on the international road to recognition.

Prof. Iqbal Jhazbhay is author of Somaliland: An African Struggle for Nationhood and International Recognition. He serves on the board of the Institute for Global Dialogue and is a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee’s Sub-Committee of International Relations
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Relevant Internet Links:
Ethiopian Government Statement on Somaliland Presidential Elections, 2010:
http://www.mfa.gov.et/Press_Section/PressStatementSomaliland.pdf ^[1]
ANC journal, Umrabulo, World Cup Soccer edition. Article by Prof. Ali Mazrui on Somaliland and Prof. Hussein Adam’s review of the Somaliland book, 2010 :
http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=ancdocs/pubs/umrabulo/umrabulo33/art22.html ^[2]
http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=ancdocs/pubs/umrabulo/umrabulo33/index.html&type=Publications ^[3]
Speech by South African Minister in the Presidency on Somaliland, March 2010:
http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/show.asp?include=minister/sp/2010/sp0311858.htm&ID=2084&type=sp ^[4]
South African published text on Somaliland, by the Nelson Mandela initiated, Institute for Global Dialogue and, the oldest South African Institute of International Affairs:
http://www.saiia.org.za/books/somaliland-an-african-struggle-for-nationhood-and-international-recognition.html ^[5]
http://www.kalahari.net/page_templates/searchresults.aspx?searchText=jhazbhay&navigationid=632&displayShop=books ^[6]
Journal of Somaliland Studies:
http://somalilandstudies.com/ ^[7]
Lessons from Somaliland on self reclamation from mayhem, Kenyan Sunday Nation, 2009:
http://www.redsea-online.com/books/Iqbal-Book%20review_kenya_December%2020.pdf ^[8]
Somaliland holds credible elections, International Republican Institute, 2010:
http://www.iri.org/news-events-press-center/news/somaliland-holds-credible-presidential-election ^[9]
Somaliland elections: peaceful expression of popular will, UK & EU observers, 2010:
http://www.progressio.org.uk/blog/news/somaliland-elections-peaceful-expression-popular-will ^[10]
Somaliland Presidential Election slide show, 2010:
http://www.progressio.org.uk/content/somaliland ^[11]
Report on the South African Mission on the Somaliland 2003 Presidential Elections:
http://www.somalilandlaw.com/SA_Mission_report_on_Pres_Elections_2003.pdf ^[12]
Media statement on the South African Observer Mission to 2005 Somaliland Parliamentary elections:
http://www.somalilandlaw.com/South_African_Observer_Mission_to_Somaliland_Parliamentary_elections.htm ^[13]
By Prof. Iqbal Jhazbhay

Time to embrace Somaliand? by Demdigest

By Demdigest on July 29, 2010

The recent election in Somaliland appears to have had quite an impact on observers.
This “desperately poor, Muslim, and nomadic” society, with few natural resources and limited exports, defied the odds – including threats of violence from the Islamist Al-Shabab militia – to hold the election, writes former US Ambassador Richard S. Williamson.
“The people would not be denied,” he writes.
The International Republican Institute’s team of observers deemed the poll “peaceful, without major incident, and generally [in line with] international standards.”
The country’s achievement deserves the recognition of the international community, argues analyst Chris Harnisch.
“Democratic partners that work to uphold the rule of law and stand up to terrorists are a rarity in the greater Middle East and Africa,” he writes. “The time has come for the United States to start examining whether or not Somaliland may be a partner worth recognizing and embracing.”

Source: http://www.demdigest.net/blog/regions/africa/time-to-embrace-somaliand.html

Somaliland Pre-Election Watch: June 2010 Presidential Election | International Republican Institute (IRI)

Somaliland Pre-Election Watch: June 2010 Presidential Election | International Republican Institute (IRI)

Leaders of IRI’s Delegation in Somaliland Discuss the Presidential Election | International Republican Institute (IRI)

Leaders of IRI’s Delegation in Somaliland Discuss the Presidential Election | International Republican Institute (IRI)

Promoting democracy a critical effort (Reps. David Price and David Dreier) - The Hill's Congress Blog

Promoting democracy a critical effort (Reps. David Price and David Dreier) - The Hill's Congress Blog

How Do You Measure Democracy Work? by Jeff Lilley

April 15th, 2010 12:23 pm by Jeff Lilley

How do you measure democracy work? There is no balance sheet for political parties that records how healthy they are. We can’t give inoculations against authoritarian ruling schemes. In the absence of measuring sticks, most of us engaged in democracy and governance (D&G) work around the globe have put emphasis on anecdotal reporting and on numbers: numbers of people trained, polling and election results.
But over the past few years there has been increased attention to the need for a more rigorous assessment of the impact of D&G programs. Impact refers to the behavioral or attitudinal change connected to programming: after training parties to develop issue-oriented platforms, do more voters vote for parties based on their platforms? That’s impact.
In 2008, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded study entitled Improving Democracy Assistance recommended that the agency dedicate more resources to measuring impact of D&G programs using randomized studies and case studies. Many others are following in USAID footsteps, as attention is turning to more substantive evaluations of D&G programs.
International Republic Institute (IRI) is one of the organizations applying new methods of evaluating the impact of democracy assistance in the field. In Iraq, IRI’s team working with political parties and their candidates came up with a way to track and measure the impact of campaign training.
It divided campaign training into 20 different segments. Candidates who attended the sessions had to evaluate each segment, such as public speaking, separately from others.  In doing so, it was possible to compare IRI’s perceptions of which segments should be most important to valuation by actual candidates and what, if any, factors affected their delivery.
But even then it’s not always certain that a specific training can produce the behavioral change. There are many exogenous factors that can affect the behavior of a participant in a training program. For example, what if the participant attended another campaign training? How can you isolate the effect of one organization and a specific training program from everything else?
Enter impact evaluation. It’s a form of evaluation that assesses the change that can be attributed to a particular activity or intervention. That means it isolates the target variable from other exogenous factors. Ideally, it does that by comparing randomly selected groups – one that receives the intervention and one that does not. The use of control groups gives impact evaluation its distinguishing characteristic — the use of a counterfactual: “what would the situation have been if the intervention had not taken place?”
If you think that sounds like medical trials, you are right. The thing about D&G work is that the programming doesn’t always lend itself to randomization. Imagine telling a political party in X country that they can’t participate in a training because they were selected to be the control group.
In Colombia, IRI identified a democratic governance program that meets the criteria for an impact evaluation. It has a large enough sample size to detect impact, and it lends itself to random selection of participants. After securing funding from USAID for this impact evaluation initiative, IRI undertook a competitive bidding process to select an impact evaluator (a key criterion is that the evaluation be done independently).
IRI staff then worked closely with the evaluator to design the evaluation of the impact on citizens’ perceptions of a new Office of Transparency in Cucuta that will facilitate public access to city government documents and a One-Stop Shop in Cartagena that will provide multiple municipal services to citizens in one place. Baseline surveys, to which final results will be compared, began in the two cities on March 1.
In the case of these two services, the target variable is increased citizens’ confidence in democracy as a system of government. That will be determined through surveys to measure what the “feel good effect” and the good service effect in each city. The “feel good” effect will measure the extent to which citizens’ confidence in democracy has increased as a result of the establishment of each office based largely on whether they have used the new facilities or not. Since it may be difficult to detect with confidence the impact of one intervention over one year in a city with hundreds of thousands of residents, the good service effect will measure the extent to which citizens who actually use the services experience an increase in confidence in democracy.
Thus far, IRI has learned much from this ground-breaking endeavor in attempting to isolate the impact of democracy assistance programming.  Importantly, you need to identify the right kind of program for impact evaluation.  Further, it can be expensive and highly technical so you must plan far in advance. But the real learning is ahead. The Office of Transparency and the One-Stop Shop are just getting underway. They will function for a year or so before we measure their effects. Stay tuned.
This post is part of a series of guest posts by the International Republican Institute (IRI).

Source: http://www.cipe.org/blog/?p=4908

Somaliland and the March of Freedom By Ambassador Richard S. Williamson

Filed under: World Watch, Culture, Public Square
The most recent entry in freedom’s ledger was written in late June in an unlikely corner of East Africa.

While the voice of President Obama has grown quiet in championing the spread of democracy, the fire for freedom still burns bright in the hearts and minds of people around the world.

Freedom and democracy are difficult to achieve and not inevitable. Nonetheless, history continues to witness freedom flower even in inhospitable soil when patriots cherish personal liberty and are persistent in its pursuit. The most recent entry in freedom’s ledger was written in late June in an unlikely corner of East Africa.

Somaliland is desperately poor, Muslim, and nomadic. It has few natural resources, and its limited exports are primarily livestock and fish shipped to Yemen. The international community has not recognized Somaliland and provides it little support. When their brutal war with Somalia ended in 1991, the country had been ravaged.

With the horrors of war still fresh, Somalilanders cherish peace. The violent failed state of Somalia to their south reminds them what they must not allow to infect their own society. And they have hope. Over lunch, University of Hargeisa President Dr. Hussein Bullan said: “It is the Somaliland way: No wells will be dug for them. No rescuers are coming for them. At the university we teach the students that no wells will be dug for them, but you are the rescuers.”

    The violent failed state of Somalia to their south reminds them what they must not allow to infect their own society.

In 2001, Somalilanders held a constitutional referendum, opening the door for democracy. From 2002 to 2005, there were three elections—for local offices, the presidency, and parliament. All were deemed acceptable. The 2003 presidential election was decided by a mere 80 votes and the defeated candidate accepted the result, and the 2005 parliamentary elections produced an opposition majority. So far, so good.

But this year’s presidential election, just completed, provided ample evidence of the challenges a nascent democracy faces. The vote was originally scheduled for 2008 but was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose across the country and the nation’s democratic institutions were severely stressed. Leading up to the election, Somalia Islamist Al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, threatened to disrupt the vote. All this contributed to an atmosphere of uncertainty leading up to this election.

But the people would not be denied.

I was in Hargeisa for election day as head of the International Republican Institute’s Election Observer Mission. What I witnessed inspired me and belied the cynics who would deny freedom’s march and would dim America’s tradition as a “shining city on the hill” for human rights and democracy. Advancing these values is our opportunity and our responsibility.

On election day I arrived at a polling station at Waa Kiro School in Hargeisa at 6:30 a.m., 30 minutes before voting was to begin. More than 300 people were already waiting to vote. Betra, a woman in her thirties with seven children, was first in line. I asked her when she had shown up. She told me 2 a.m. “Why?” I asked. “This is an important day for me and my children,” she replied. “The election means good things will happen.”

When I asked him why he was waiting in line to vote, Abdirahman, a young man, echoed the sentiments of many American voters. He said simply, “I want change.”

I met Amina at a polling station at the Imamushashifi School in a deeply impoverished section of Hargeisa. She’s 29 years old with five children, and the youngest, a five-month-old infant, was strapped to her back. She had arrived to vote at 5 a.m., and at 9 a.m. was still waiting for her turn. With a broad smile she told me, “Life is good in Somaliland, and with this election it will get better 100 percent.”

    This year’s presidential election, just completed, provided ample evidence of the challenges a nascent democracy faces.

It was not just hope nor youthful enthusiasm that brought hundreds of thousands of Somalilanders to the polls. There was a deeper understanding of democracy’s promise. At the Puoostu Total School polling site, I met Ibrahim, a 65-year-old man and father of 13 children, who told me he was jailed for three years in Somalia when young on trumped-up charges because he had offended a soldier. Ibrahim observed, “Democracy is very good for Somaliland. If there is democracy every human being will get his rights. From the fighting with Somalia there are mass graves everywhere in Somaliland. They want to kill the people like animals. We are getting stronger. Democracy makes the institutions of government stronger.”

A number of voters told me about the accountability that democracy brings. In a small village with dusty dirt roads about an hour outside Hargeisa, Hussein, a 40-year-old public notary voting late in the afternoon, told me that “the candidates have made promises and they will have to deliver or else.”

In Somaliland, the democratic process is helping to bring in a younger generation of people. And as the democratic process deepens, the hold of the traditional, male-dominated clan leadership weakens.

Like all elections, including our own, there were some irregularities. But it was an orderly, generally peaceful, credible election in which Somalilanders rejected the incumbent ruling party. Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, the main opposition leader, has been declared the winner. President Dahir Riyale Kahin has accepted defeat. In East Africa that still is a remarkable event. That’s democracy at work.

Berbera is a coastal town in the northwest region of Somaliland where temperatures in the summertime can approach 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Here one of my colleagues met Hinda, a Somalilander who had immigrated to the United States, married an American, and now lives in Minneapolis. Thirty-four years old, she has two sons, ages 13 and 12. She was working as an election observer. She had brought her two sons with her, neither of whom had ever before visited their mother’s homeland. She wanted to bring her children this long way so they could know their culture and see its promise. She is proud of the nascent democracy in her native land. She said she had worked in the 2008 Obama campaign and wants to do the same thing in Somaliland.

Despite President Obama’s lack of enthusiasm for freedom’s march, there are others for whom the fire burns bright, including those whose democratic impulse helped him become leader of the Free World.

Ambassador Richard S. Williamson is a principal at Salisbury Strategies, LLP. He has served as an ambassador and U.S. representative in several capacities to the United Nations, as an assistant secretary of State, and as assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs in the White House for President Ronald Reagan. In January 2008, he was appointed special envoy to Sudan by President George W. Bush.

FURTHER READING: Williamson most recently detailed “China, America, and a New World Order” and “Afghanistan’s Historic Election.” Marc Thiessen exposes “The Threat from East Africa,” Nicholas Eberstadt says “But Optimism on Africa’s Future Seems Risky,” and Kenneth Green explores “Managing Climatic Risk in Africa.”

Image by Darren Wamboldt/Bergman Group/Flickr user F. Omer.

Source: http://www.american.com/archive/2010/july/somaliland-and-the-march-of-freedom