The 2010 Somaliland presidential election

In short

On 26 June 2010 Somaliland held its second presidential election. On 1 July the National Electoral Commission declared Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" of the opposition Kulmiye party the winner "with 49.59 per cent of votes". The Supreme Court endorsed the result on 11 July and Silanyo was sworn in on 27 July (UN Security Council, S/2010/447, para. 10).

The sitting President, Dahir Riyale Kahin of UDUB, lost. The UN Secretary-General wrote that the vote "was described as free, fair and transparent by international observers" (same source). For all of Somaliland's elections, see elections in Somaliland. For the next presidential vote, see the 2017 Somaliland presidential election.

Five delays, 2008 to 2009

From the UN Secretary-General's reports:

• The first date. The ballot "had initially been planned for April 2008" (S/2009/684, para. 8).
• The register dispute. In 2009, "opposition parties, civil society and the legislature rejected the decision made by the National Electoral Commission, with the support of the executive branch, to hold elections without a voters' roll". On 11 August 2009 the Parliament called on the commission and the government to drop the plan (S/2009/503, para. 13).
• Mediation. On 21 August Ethiopia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs met the President, the opposition, civil society and elders. On 25 August Somaliland's foreign minister asked Ethiopia to mediate, and on 30 August Parliament set up a committee of the three parties (same source).
• The fifth delay. In early September 2009 the commission postponed the vote set for 27 September. "This was the fifth deferral of the ballot." Tension eased when the terms of the President and Vice-President were extended by one month (S/2009/684, para. 8).
• The deal. On 30 September 2009 the ruling UDUB party and the opposition Kulmiye and UCID signed a memorandum of understanding, "mediated by Ethiopia and the United Kingdom". They agreed to wait for the voter register, to hold the presidential vote before local council elections, and to set up a new electoral commission, whose members were sworn in on 28 October (same source).
• New cards. In early 2010 the commission said it would issue new voter cards by May "to ensure free and fair elections" (S/2010/234, para. 6).

The vote and the result

• Polling day. 26 June 2010. The international observer mission had 59 observers from 16 countries, who covered 33 percent of polling stations across Somaliland's six regions. It found the elections "reasonably free and fair, although some problems were also noted" (International Election Observation Mission, 2018 report, p. 16).
• The announcement. The commission chairman, Essa Yusuf Mohammed, announced the result. Al Jazeera gave about 538,000 valid votes from 1.09 million registered voters, and reported irregularities such as the ruling party's use of public funds, state media and vehicles in its campaign (Al Jazeera, 2 July 2010).

The figures as given by the electoral commission, via the African Elections Database (Wikipedia, "2010 Somaliland presidential election"):

Turnout was 50.31 percent of 1,069,914 registered voters (same source).

The handover

• The loser's response. An opinion article published by Al Jazeera on 22 July 2010 said that Riyale "embraced the popular verdict and accepted defeat gracefully" (Al Jazeera).
• The new government. Silanyo named a cabinet of 20 ministers and six vice-ministers, three of them women (S/2010/447, para. 10).

Who suffered?

• Election staff and voters in the east. The UN recorded "a few security incidents related to the 'presidential' elections held in June", and clashes in Sool and Sanaag between Somaliland troops and the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) militia (S/2010/447, para. 16). Wikipedia, citing the Progressio observer report, records violence in Sool that caused the death of an election official (Wikipedia).

Sources differ

• How clean the vote was. The UN said observers called it "free, fair and transparent". The observers' own later summary says "reasonably free and fair, although some problems were also noted". Al Jazeera reported use of state resources by the ruling party.
• UDUB's vote. Wikipedia's main table gives Riyale 178,881 votes; its table by district gives 179,881.
• The date of the announcement. The UN gives 1 July 2010. Al Jazeera reported the announcement on 2 July.

Read the primary sources yourself

• UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2009/503 (2 October 2009), PDF; S/2009/684 (8 January 2010), PDF; S/2010/234 (11 May 2010), PDF; S/2010/447 (9 September 2010), PDF.
• International Election Observation Mission, The limits of consensus? (2018), with a summary of the 2010 mission on p. 16: PDF.
• Al Jazeera, "Opposition wins Somaliland vote", 2 July 2010: article.