A long-delayed presidential poll in a country that does not officially exist

Not so failing

A long-delayed presidential poll in a country that does not officially exist

 

SINCE 1991 Somalia has routinely been labelled "the world's most failed state". Yet its north-west bit, Somaliland, once a British protectorate that merged with Italian Somalia to form unified Somalia in 1960, actually feels like a proper country. Although poor and underdeveloped, it is free of the south's scourges, such as piracy, warring militias and Islamist extremism. The streets of Hargeisa, the dusty and tumbledown capital, hum with construction work and mobile-phone chatter.

Somaliland is pushing for international recognition and has been building a democratic state. In 2003 it held a presidential election, then a parliamentary one in 2005. On June 26th the 50th anniversary of the end of the British protectorate, a second presidential poll took place, marked with enthusiasm and little violence by its 1.07m registered voters (from a population of around 2.5m). It is hard to imagine that happening in Somalia.

Not everything is rosy. The poll was originally scheduled for early 2008, but a dispute over voter registration saw it repeatedly delayed, before political parties grudgingly forged an agreement last September. There were a series of suicide attacks in Hargeisa in October 2008, including on the presidential compound, which killed 29 people. These sharpened fears that al-Shabab, south Somalia's Islamic militia, no fan of the idea of a democratic secessionist state, could kill Somaliland's democratic dream. In early June Somaliland's police foiled a similar plot in Burco, the region's second city.

• In the event, despite an election-eve warning by al-Shabab, the poll went ahead smoothly in most of the country. International election observers reported, with some qualifications, a well-organised and fair vote. There was, for example, the reported distribution of false voter ID cards and widespread underage voting around the town of Borama near the Ethiopian border, home territory of President Dahir Riyale Kahin. There were problems in the regions of Sool and eastern Sanaag, where some clan leaders are unenthusiastic about Somaliland and where Puntland, another part of Somalia that asserts its autonomy, lays claim to territory.

The final result may be delayed by an investigation of these difficulties. However, early indications were that Mr Kahin, who became president in 2002 when his predecessor died and who once served in the regime of Siad Barre, Somalia's last military dictator, had lost to Ahmed Silanyo. Mr Silanyo, an ageing scion of the Somali National Movement, which fought the Barre regime, lost the 2003 vote to Mr Kahin by 80 votes amid suspicions of electoral fraud.

Whoever wins will have his work cut out if he wants to raise people's standard of living. Somaliland's economy relies heavily on selling livestock to the Middle East and on remittances from the huge diaspora in Europe, America and the Gulf states. Import tariffs account for most government revenue, and subsistence and small trading—or migration—are the only options for many Somalilanders.

Recognition, yearned for by virtually all Somalilanders, could help, as it would give the country access to multilateral assistance and encourage foreign investment. But some leading African Union members are fearful of encouraging secessionist sentiment across the continent. And the United Nations insists on African leadership. There are signs that America, fearful of growing al-Qaeda influence in Somalia, could become more willing to deal with Somaliland—and in March a report from the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, called for an increase in donor assistance. But this is unlikely to mean recognition either.

Middle East & Africa