Somaliland opposition leader defeats incumbent to win presidential election

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The opposition leader in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland was declared winner on Tuesday in last week’s election that gave a boost for the region’s push for international recognition.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 amid a descent into conflict and has since sustained its own government, currency and security structures despite not being recognized by any country in the world.

Over the years, it built a stable political environment, contrasting sharply with Somalia’s ongoing struggles with insecurity.

Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi of the main opposition Waddani Party received more than 50% of the votes, defeating President Muse Bihi Abdi who sought a second term after seven years in office, the electoral commission said.

Abdullahi, 69, had served as Somaliland’s parliament speaker in 2005 and hinged his campaign on democratic and economic reforms in the region whose development has been stifled by the lack of global recognition.

The election was delayed twice since 2022 for lack of funding.

“This result and especially the credible electoral process resulting in a peaceful transfer of power will consolidate Somaliland’s reputation as one of the more stable democracies in the Horn of Africa,” said Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group.

Abdullahi’s win will see to the end of the tenure of Abdi, who pushed for Somaliland to be recognized by countries around the world but secured just over 30% of the votes cast.

Somaliland’s “impressive record of elections and peaceful transfers of power is a model for the region and beyond,” the United States Embassy in Somalia said Tuesday on X, lauding the election.

Somaliland’s latest agreement with neighboring Ethiopia — granting Addis Ababa access to the Indian Ocean in exchange for recognition — has caused political tension with Somalia, which accuses Ethiopia of undermining its territorial integrity.

The opposition has been urging more economic benefits to Somaliland from the agreement and criticized how it was hurriedly and secretly negotiated.

The main opposition party has raised concerns about how much benefit the controversial agreement with Ethiopia holds for Somaliland, Mohamed Husein Gaas, the director of the Raad Peace Research Institute in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, told The Associated Press.

Leaders in Somalia expressed hope for better relations between the country and the breakaway region, including former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who hoped the president-elect would “take a leading role in strengthening the brotherhood and unity of the Somali people.”

The president of neighboring Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, also congratulated Abdullahi on his election victory.