Somaliland Voter Registration
The Highway To Recognition Or Reunification?
The Somaliland voter registration is allegedly riddled with irreversible registration irregularities that can render the yearned aspiration of this country—international recognition— unattainable, unless such allegations are immediately confronted, and any irregularities are ethically and transparently fixed before forwarding the voter registration outcome to the donors.
Alleged registration irregularities include, omission of the registered individual’s picture and fingerprints which are crucial to the registration process. The picture and the fingerprints identify each individual and deny him or her to register again. The omission enabled many individuals to register multiple times. Other allegations argue that the Election Commission itself changed the rules of engagement and paved the way for these fraudulent activities. In a sense, the Election Committee allegedly applied different rules to different regions, thus creating an uneven and unfair playing field. In addition, the hired staff was not trained properly, and was not warned about possible inner-emotional inclinations towards one way or the other instead of following the established procedures. Hence, some of the employees got overwhelmed by clan loyalties and allowed multiple registrations to occur disregarding the original purpose of the voter registration.
If all these allegations are proven to be true, such corrupt undertakings can anger the international donors who trusted Somaliland, supplied logistics, send experts, and financed the process. It is possible that those who were allegedly involved in these fraudulent activities and facilitated or repeatedly registered themselves do not realize that they damaged the so desperately needed international trust, that they complicated the recognition hopes, and that they practically nullified the voter registration process.
Undoubtedly, a correct and transparent voter registration is vital to the existence of the country of Somaliland for many reasons, but, I will discuss two of those reasons only.
First and foremost, Somaliland needs be internationally recognized and be accepted as a member of the global family. The international community does not prefer one community from the other including Somalis, but, they encourage and support any community that takes care of itself in a participatory way and practices democratic principles, because, such community can prosper in peace and will not resort to terrorism, which in turn can lead to global peace and prosperity. For many years, Somaliland showed the World that it practices the standard democratic principles, but it lacks registered voters to complete the endeavor. And when that wish was granted by the trusting international community however, rumors alleged that the voter registration process had been derailed by fraudulent voter registration irregularities. If these allegation are proven to be the truth, such fraudulent activities will undoubtedly dampen the international community’s trust of Somaliland and erode their enthusiasm with this country, which could encourage them to desert Somaliland agenda, and advocate for the reunification of Somaliland and Somalia. I do not believe that the individuals who participated in such corrupt activities wanted to obstruct Somaliland recognition, but they did not understand what they did, and were overcame by clan loyalty, hence they forgot their country loyalty. They will probably regret what they did when they understand the enormity of their greed.
Secondly, all Somaliland clans believe that they are disfranchised by the system and that they are not represented fairly in the government institutions. A correct and transparent voter registration process could have eased their anxiety and distrust of the system, and could have convinced them to accept the status in quo. But when they hear about these allegations, and witness that the citizens and the government of country did not correct the issue, they will believe that their anxiety was genuine all along, and were truly disfranchised. They can resort to violence that can destabilize the country.
In conclusion, the voter registration irregularities allegations are truly serious and demand the attention of all concerned citizens, the media, the government, and the civil societies. It really does not matter whether Togdheer has more people than Maroodi Jeex, or Saaxil has more than Awdal, what matters is, a correct and transparent voter registration process that produces an undisputable count. If that can not be the case, the voter registration product can be an insult and embarrassment to the country of Somaliland. Moreover, it can instigate a devastating internal turmoil and violence. No Somaliland citizen wants to see this outcome from the voter registration process, therefore, Somaliland must fix the irregularities before they get out of the country’s authority.
|
