One of Siilaanyo’s strategic election campaigns has been to reinvent himself as a man of change

When there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is an order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the country.

It was to be an election to put Somaliland on the road to true democracy and steady governance for the next five years. But democracy does not always ensure clarity. After sour campaigns, Somaliland people presented a decent election, if not a distinctive one.

Preliminary polls told that only three in five of those who were supposed to vote thought that the election would not make a real change in the situation of the country. Sadly, if not surprisingly, Nine out of Ten of those who went to polling stations voted emotionally instead of rationally.

This situation gives a clear picture of a nation that was tired, bored and cynical – and that was how it voted.

Nationwide voting turnout was just very small. Even in the hotly contested regions of Hargeisa and Burco, only 35 percent of the eligible voters went to the polling stations. “People” especially gullible people – women and the young – were those who went to polling stations.

Overall Kulmiye party won the election with a bigger margin of the popular vote. Looking back at the election campaigns, the two opposition parties took roughly the same line, so Somaliland saw little difference between the ruling party and the  opposing ones except in the extravagant promises made by the opposition and the equally extravagant abuses each opposition leader showered on the outgoing president, Mr Dahir Riyaale Kahin.

One of Siilaanyo’s strategic election campaigns has been to reinvent himself as a man of change. He made it a point to be associated with ideas, like the revival of Berbera city and rebuilding its port, which lends him the image of an innovator. He has been liberally telling dreams of a new prosperity. He promised to make Berbera another Hongkong. He even went to proclaim that its parched land would soon turn green right after his election.

It is too eary to say that there is no sign of such dreams. But we only see now celebrations that are a sign of joy and childish congratulations not tied inexorably to any national triumph, leave alone new ideas and initiatives that show new enterprising objectives.

The people will judge Siilaanyo on what kind of government he will form, on what kind of people he will choose as his cabinet ministers, and on how he will build the bond that keeps all Somalilanders together as one nation. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

This means that the workload waiting for the president-elect is difficult and much tougher than that anybody might imagine.
The challenge for mr Siilaanyo is to maintain a national vision for Somaliland and at the same time to focus on the pressing issues. The urgent need is to improve both hardware (roads, airports and infrastructure) and software (human capital, education
and health).

Ask a student “what comes first” and he would reply “studies.” Ask a jobless man the same question and he would reply “job creation.” Ask a politician the same question and he would say “people.” Noble thoughts indeed but the question is how. How the president-elect will fulfill htese tall hopes? Where the resources to create employment opportunities will follow from? Handouts will never help any nation to get out of its tight situation.

Human development and its mobilization can make miracles. What we need are professionals, intellectuals, and thinkers who have other kinds of work experiences than the existing political trends to bring their different mindsets into the political process.  Somaliland needs people who can make a contribution that will broaden the scope of politics and improve administrative behavior and work ethics and efficiency. Individuals who only want the freedom to see where their talent will take them are our favorite kind of people. These are the kind of people Somaliland need.

What everyone fears is a continuation of enervating feuding system that effectively paralyzed all previous administrations in the past. If Somaliland state is to be saved from being wrecked, the newly elected president must distant himself from those whose slogan and sole objective has been, and still is to capture the power by hook and crook and through this mere means try
to run the country according to their outlook. Whether the president-elect, Mr Siilaanyo, who fought like a willful child in the past, will see reason this time remains open to question. It may be that a stern parent in the form of a saint may at this time be needed to instill political discipline.

In conclusion, when there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is an order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the country. 

Jama Falaag
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Filed Under: Opinion