The 2017 Somaliland presidential election

In short

Somaliland held its third presidential election on 13 November 2017. The outgoing President, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo", did not stand. Three candidates ran: Muse Bihi Abdi for Kulmiye, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro" for Waddani, and Faisal Ali Warabe for UCID. Muse Bihi Abdi won with 55.10 percent (International Election Observation Mission, The limits of consensus?, 2018, p. 34).

The international observers, 60 people from 27 countries, reported "a largely peaceful and well-organised polling day", but also delays in counting, a social media ban, protests in which people were killed, and a result that Waddani accepted "for the sake of Somaliland, while still maintaining they were incorrect" (same report, p. 6).

For how Somaliland's elections work and all results since 2002, see elections in Somaliland. For Somaliland's wider story, see Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026.

The road to the vote

From the observers' report (IEOM, pp. 5–17):

• Delays. The election was first set for June 2015. In March 2015 the electoral commission (NEC) asked for a nine-month delay to deal with "significant political and technical challenges", including a voter register. The Guurti (House of Elders) then extended the President's term by two years, to March 2017, "amidst protests". The report says drought also delayed the vote.
• A new register. The vote used a new voter register "utilising biometric iris scan technology, designed to combat multiple voting issues that had compromised past elections".
• Who could vote. 704,089 registered voters collected their cards. The report notes that 169,242 others who had registered "were denied the right to vote because they had been unwilling or unable to collect their cards" (p. 27).
• Three parties. Under the 2001 constitution only three parties may stand. Waddani entered through the 2012 local elections "at the expense of UDUB", the party of former President Dahir Riyale Kahin.
• The campaign. The contest between Kulmiye and Waddani saw "clan-based politicking, character assassination and isolated incidences of violence" (p. 17).
• The media. The Ministry of Information revoked the permit of Kalsan TV over its reporting of an incident in Las Anod where shots were fired during a speech by the Kulmiye candidate (p. 26).

The candidates

Source: IEOM, pp. 8 and 17. The report describes Irro as a long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives who formed Waddani after a split with UCID, and Muse Bihi Abdi as "a military commander from the days of the insurgent struggle against Siyaad Barre".

Election day

• Coverage. Observers visited 355 of 1,642 polling stations, in all six regions and 17 of 21 districts, from Zeila in the west to Erigavo, Las Anod and Xudun in the east (IEOM, p. 6).
• Findings. They reported concerns over "inconsistencies in polling station management", "the issuing of unstamped ballot papers, and the prevalence of underage voting" (p. 6).
• The social media ban. Access to social media was blocked "from the late afternoon of polling day and for several days after". The observers wrote that the decision "effectively violated Articles 30 and 32 of the Constitution of Somaliland" and called the ban "largely futile" because of wide use of VPNs. A court case by the Human Rights Centre to stop it failed (p. 26).

The result

The final results as issued by the NEC (IEOM, p. 34):

Turnout was 80.32 percent of 704,198 registered voters.

The dispute

From the observers' account of the days after the vote (IEOM, pp. 34–35):

• Parallel counts. Waddani supporters said they had won "by some 20,000 votes"; in Kulmiye circles the talk was of a margin of "about 80,000 votes".
• 16 November. Waddani stopped taking part in the count. It alleged ballot-box stuffing and showed a ballot book it said was forged.
• The protests. Protests broke out that evening in Hargeisa and Burao. In Burao "police opened fire, using live ammunition", "killing between two and seven people", according to The National, as cited by the observers.
• 18 November. At a joint press conference with the NEC chair, Abdikadir Iman Warsame, Irro accepted that the ballot book said to be forged "was in fact legitimate". The NEC agreed to a recount in Hargeisa but not a national one.
• 21 November. The NEC declared Muse Bihi Abdi the winner. Irro accepted the outcome "for the sake of Somaliland" while saying the results were wrong. No formal complaint went to the Supreme Court.
• 13 December 2017. Muse Bihi Abdi was sworn in by the Chief Justice.
• Afterwards. In January 2018 a group of Waddani supporters asked the UK government to "disregard the unfair, highly disputed and flawed election results".

Who suffered?

• Protesters in Burao, where police fire killed between two and seven people (IEOM, citing The National).
• Registered voters without cards, 169,242 people who could not vote (IEOM, p. 27).
• Journalists and Kalsan TV, whose permit was revoked during the campaign (IEOM, p. 26).

Sources differ

• "Free and fair". Muse Bihi Abdi wrote in the Financial Times that the election had been "certified as free and fair by a 60-strong team of international observers". The observers replied that they do "not purport to 'certify' elections" and avoid the term "free and fair" (IEOM, p. 15).
• The count. The NEC's result gave Kulmiye a margin of about 80,000 votes. Waddani maintained the result was "incorrect". The observers concluded that the irregularities they saw "were not of sufficient scale or pattern to have impacted the final result" (p. 6).
• The number killed in Burao. The source cited by the observers gives a range of two to seven.

Read the primary sources yourself

• International Election Observation Mission (UCL Development Planning Unit and Somaliland Focus UK), The limits of consensus? Report on the Somaliland Presidential Election, 13th November 2017 (March 2018): PDF.