SPECIAL REPORT
GAROWE, Somalia July 14, 2013 (Garowe Online) РPuntland government in northern Somalia has announced a suspension of the 2013 Local Council elections, delaying the state’s first direct elections in 45 years that was to be held on July 15, Garowe Online reports.
Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole addressed the media Sunday morning in his office at the State House in Garowe, saying: “Puntland hereby suspends the Local Council Elections scheduled for tomorrow July 15.”
President Farole defended the government’s “difficult decision”, citing the government’s “paramount responsibility to safeguard the security, stability and unity of Puntland” and noting the government’s “committed efforts to implement the democratization process”.
Continuing, the president said that, “domestic spoilers and external manipulators are funding and organizing instability and election violence in Puntland State” and he called on the Puntland people to “protect their unity, security, and stability and against the destructive forces of aggression aiming to destroy the peace in Puntland”, according to the press statement.
President Farole expressed the government’s “utmost appreciation for the enthusiastic public support for the democratization process, and the Government assures the public the Government is committed to advancing the Democratization Process and holding elections, when it is appropriate,” the statement added.
He also thanked “the international community who have been supporting this democratization process” and hoped for continued support from the international partners for Puntland’s democratization ambitions.
‘Destructive forces of instability and terrorism’
Puntland government’s statement underlined that there are forces aiming to destabilize the peace in Puntland, saying that “the destructive forces of instability and terrorism using as a tool the Local Council Elections, to organize behind the common cause of destroying Puntland State’s unity and stability”.
Government sources tell Garowe Online that Puntland government’s decision was declared after the government had collected sufficient information about forces coalescing around the election, and planning to use election tensions as an excuse to foment violence and create instability.
Al Shabaab militants hiding out in the Golis Mountains had previously threatened to attack Bossaso, Puntland’s port city and commercial hub, while thousands of Puntland government troops are stationed in the mountains, along the main highway and within Bossaso city.
Moreover, members of the unregistered domestic opposition in Puntland who opposed the elections process were reportedly receiving funding from political actors in Mogadishu aiming to exploit tensions in Puntland. Somaliland also deployed military forces in parts of Sanaag region of Puntland days before the July 15 elections, thereby heightening security tensions in the region.
Sources in Galkayo say that Puntland security forces battled piracy gangs in 2012 and some piracy groups had returned and were funding and aiding the unregistered opposition members, aiming to exploit the political tensions in Puntland and create instability where piracy flourishes.
UN envoy on Puntland elections
The UN Special Representative to Somalia Ambassador Nicholas Kay, who was on a two-day trip in Garowe Sunday, issued a short press statement describing that the Puntland government’s decision to postpone the election as “brave and wise”.
Ambassador Kay “condemned the violence” and sent condolences for victims of Sunday’s armed clashes in Qardo town of Puntland.
The UN envoy “urged restraint” and called on “all political actors in Puntland to take the opportunity now to work together to ensure a democratic process that is peaceful and credible”, according to the public statement.
Qardo clashes
Armed clashes erupted in Qardo, 240km north of Garowe, Sunday morning after armed militia attacked two trucks transporting ballot boxes and materials to Qardo district.
Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and the armed militia seizing one of the trucks carrying ballot boxes, while the second truck drove to the Qardo central police station.
After heated discussions outside the Qardo central police station, Puntland security officials reportedly instructed the armed militia – accompanied by former Puntland president Gen. Mohamud Muse Hersi (Adde) – to leave the area but the militia refused.
A Puntland military commander, Col. Abdi Jama Elmi (Abdi Dhagaf), spoke briefly with Gen. Adde Muse in front of Qardo police station, where Gen. Adde Muse reportedly demanded that Col. Abdi Dhagaf remove the government forces or “risk death”, according to eyewitness accounts.
Trying to diffuse tensions, Col. Abdi Dhagaf informed Gen. Adde Muse that government forces arrived in Qardo on an order from Puntland government and can only leave with a government order.
Afterwards, Gen. Adde Muse issued more threats and returned to his vehicle, while Col. Abdi Dhagaf attempted to return to inside the police station but shots were fired from outside and Col. Abdi Dhagaf was shot and killed at the spot, witnesses said.
An armed confrontation erupted between the police and the armed militia, where at least four people including Col. Abdi Dhagaf were killed and six others wounded during the skirmish.
Puntland government diffused tensions and did not launch security operations to hunt down the militia responsible for killing a military officer, a soldier and a civilian male killed during the skirmish.
President Farole, along with countless senior government officials, attended the funeral for Col. Abdi Dhagaf who was buried Sunday afternoon in Garowe, and President Farole declared at the funeral that Col. Abdi Dhagaf “was killed in the line of duty” and prayed for him.
Separately, election boxes and materials were burned by angry mobs at five locations within Puntland territories, including Qardo and Galkayo.
Bad politics
Qardo has been the scene of organized demonstrations in the past and President Farole has visited personally numerous times, aiming to foster good relations between local communities and the government.
Gen. Adde Muse, a former president of Puntland, has been living in Qardo in recent months and witnesses in Qardo reported Gen. Adde Muse attired in military fatigues, as early as Friday.Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and the armed militia seizing one of the trucks carrying ballot boxes, while the second truck drove to the Qardo central police station.
After heated discussions outside the Qardo central police station, Puntland security officials reportedly instructed the armed militia – accompanied by former Puntland president Gen. Mohamud Muse Hersi (Adde) – to leave the area but the militia refused.
A Puntland military commander, Col. Abdi Jama Elmi (Abdi Dhagaf), spoke briefly with Gen. Adde Muse in front of Qardo police station, where Gen. Adde Muse reportedly demanded that Col. Abdi Dhagaf remove the government forces or “risk death”, according to eyewitness accounts.
Trying to diffuse tensions, Col. Abdi Dhagaf informed Gen. Adde Muse that government forces arrived in Qardo on an order from Puntland government and can only leave with a government order.
Afterwards, Gen. Adde Muse issued more threats and returned to his vehicle, while Col. Abdi Dhagaf attempted to return to inside the police station but shots were fired from outside and Col. Abdi Dhagaf was shot and killed at the spot, witnesses said.
An armed confrontation erupted between the police and the armed militia, where at least four people including Col. Abdi Dhagaf were killed and six others wounded during the skirmish.
Puntland government diffused tensions and did not launch security operations to hunt down the militia responsible for killing a military officer, a soldier and a civilian male killed during the skirmish.
President Farole, along with countless senior government officials, attended the funeral for Col. Abdi Dhagaf who was buried Sunday afternoon in Garowe, and President Farole declared at the funeral that Col. Abdi Dhagaf “was killed in the line of duty” and prayed for him.
Separately, election boxes and materials were burned by angry mobs at five locations within Puntland territories, including Qardo and Galkayo.
Bad politics
Qardo has been the scene of organized demonstrations in the past and President Farole has visited personally numerous times, aiming to foster good relations between local communities and the government.
Gen. Adde Muse, a former president of Puntland, has been living in Qardo in recent months and witnesses in Qardo reported Gen. Adde Muse attired in military fatigues, as early as Friday.
Gen. Adde Muse, a Canadian citizen who resides in the United Arab Emirates, has been a vocal opponent of the Local Council elections and some reports say he has been issuing threats and organizing armed militia in Qardo to foment election violence in recent weeks, according to eyewitness accounts and independent sources.
Some analysts are quick to draw attention and comparisons to Gen. Adde Muse’s recent history, when he left his home in Canada for the first time in decades to take a leading role as a warlord in the Puntland civil war of 2002.
Puntland democratization process
President Farole was elected in 2009 and he pledged to transition Puntland towards multiparty political system that rewards merit and provides opportunities to youth and other marginalized groups.
Under President Farole, Puntland developed the necessary state laws, regulations and commissions to advance the democratization process. The Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission was established in July 2011 and one of the Commission‚Äôs key duties included the adoption of the Puntland Constitution on April 18, 2012, by the Puntland Constituent Assembly in Garowe, endorsed by Puntland’s titled traditional elders and civil society.
By December 2012, six political associations had registered for the Local Council elections. In May 2013, four political associations submitted candidates for over 700 seats in Local Council elections in 37 districts of Puntland, while two remaining political associations withdrew from the competition.
Unregistered oppositions figures, including Gen. Adde Muse, Gen. Abdullahi Said Samatar, and Abdirahman Gablah, rejected the democratization process, organized meetings to stir tensions, and issued public threatening statements inciting instability.
Puntland government has repeatedly called on the unregistered opposition to join the political process, but they refused and the government has also previously criticized the negative role of unregistered opposition figures of public incitement.
Puntland was established in 1998 as an autonomous region in federal Somalia and has been relatively stable since. It was the first time the 15-year government attempted to organize direct elections, in a region where the last direct elections took place in 1968.
GAROWE ONLINE
Via: http://www.garoweonline.com/
