By Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi
Civil registration is not new to Somaliland; it had been conducted under President Riyale but the operation had gone bad because both Id and Voter card were taken at the same time. This had led to violence as people were given the wrong impression about the civil registration ensuing failure of the system and corrective measures were set up to make sure that this time round the method adoptedshould not turn out to be a failure as it came around earlier.
Kulmiye party is a success story and President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud is a reference model for leaders of Somaliland political parties as he endured tyranny perpetuated by former regime. He was not defeated, but admitted defeat that he was not deserved for the sake of the country and stood by the government for many years of extended period instituted by house of elders for another three years for incumbent president simply for the sake of the nation. He had tolerated irregularities in different forms and at different times and had never vowed or appealed for rescue from his tribe as he gave to the party policy because he had believed through party either he would win or defeated.
In contrast, the opposition leaders are not seasonal politicians and that they support violence and anarchy because they came to their respective positions through the backdoor.
The main reason I believe behind their refuse to the citizenship proof is that they want to cometo the parliament through fraudulent, multiple voting by their supporters and buying the votes of non citizens in the country. The government decides as the opposition parties wanted to happen when it does to civil registration.
Moreover, the government made necessary arrangements to prevent the same old tale that caused failure in the previous civil registration whereby civil registration and voter card run parallel. It seems that tyrants have always the upper hand and if the political scenario goes, then there will be no chances of political stability and the trouble of rigging fraudulent will continue unabated.
Having stated that I support the government registration system for the sake of national unity because I trust that things can be corrected and in fact patriots look to the future not to petty politics of today. Meanwhile, they also want to prevent violence and fraud observed in the previous elections.
Irrespective of who pulls ahead or who don’t, I think the introduction of citizenship proof is the best way to fair and free election and at the same time is also best to ward off the chaotic situations aftermath. In other words, putting the election date off in a twosome of months for logistical reasons do not hurt anybody provided the concerned stakeholders agree upon.
Hopefully, the opposition has given up to lead astray the masses and finally resolved to join with the government in holding civic registration and voter card.
Therefore,, the government should reexamine the proposed civil registration post in the country whose numbers are shorter than the demand; everybody should have accessibility to register otherwise the same old irregularities remains.
Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi
Abdirahman270@gmail.com