Donors threaten Somaliland with funding axe unless it replaces election commissioners

Donors threaten Somaliland with funding axe unless it replaces election commissioners

Hargeisa, Somaliland (Somaliland Globe)- Somaliland 's major financial donors said on Tuesday, they have halted financing Somaliland's democratisation process and threatened to completely cut off election funding unless the "incompetent and corrupt" election commissioners are replaced immediately. 

Sources close to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) say the donors insisted for the last two months that they would not release any additional funds until the entire or some members of the NEC are replaced. Both the president and major political parties had been informed about this, sources added. 

However, the major political parties have different political views on this contentious issue. UDUB and KULMIYE are opposed to the idea of replacing the commissioners at this late stage but for different reasons.  

KULMIYE officials are wary of the replacement partly because the presidential election is just around the corner and partly because any replacement at this stage might cause potential delays to the election that would almost certainly trigger another presidential term extension for president Rayale. 

UDUB, the ruling party, will have much to gain from the presidential election delay and would like to see the donors to freeze the funding altogether, analysts believe. 

UCID party, however, fully supports the donors' position and would like to see the entire election commissioners replaced.  

The disagreement between the three parties on this issue led the donors to threaten the complete withdrawal of funding to the presidential election unless their conditions are fully met by the government and all parties concerned. 

Frustrated Somalilanders however are increasingly concerned that this will be a major stumbling block to the much-awaited presidential election planned for 27 September if the donors carried out their threat to freeze their share of the funding which constitutes 75% of the overall expenses. 

Senior government officials say however, with much bravado, that the government will pay up the 75% of the presidential election funds if the donors go ahead with their threat. This is despite the fact that the government could not come up with the 25% of the voter registration expenses it was contractually required to contribute. 
 
 

Although all the parties had signed the Electoral Code of Conduct last week, which was one of the donors' major requirements, this latest issue about the replacement of the entire Electoral Commission will only lend credence to the government's argument that Interpeace, the agency representing the donors, is the one which remains a stumbling to the presidential election in Somaliland rather than the government itself. 

Dahir Rayale is in no mood to replace the seven-member NEC of whom five  of them were nominated by his government and the donors are seemingly sticking to their guns. 

The tragedy is that, while the presidential election is only two months away,  no one in Somaliland can say with absolute certainty until now whether or not the presidential election will take place on 27 September as planned. 
 
 Staff Writer

Somaliland Globe