Leaders of Somaliland?s Main Parties Agree to Memorandum of Understanding

Leaders of Somaliland?s Main Parties Agree to Memorandum of Understanding


Leaders of Somaliland?s Main Parties Agree to Memorandum of Understanding
HARGEISA, Somaliland (Somaliland Globe)- The leaders of Somaliland?s two main opposition parties and the ruling party have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) put forward by donor countries that provide support for the democratization and electoral processes in Somaliland.
The MOU, which was delivered by Wubeshet Demise, the accredited Ethiopian representative to Somaliland was immediately accepted by the ruling party followed by the Justice and Welfare Party. KULMIYE however was skeptical about the very idea of entering into an agreement with the ruling party, which in the past reneged on other agreements without being brought to account.
KULMIYE finally agreed to the conditions set out in the MOU on Wednesday, 24th September but within hours of KULMIYE agreeing to the MOU, the ruling party publicly backtracked on the MOU.
The opposition parties immediately informed the House of Elders to postpone their crucial vote on extending presidential term, claiming that all parties have agreed to the MOU and will appear before the House of Elders the next day. However, only the tow main opposition parties appeared before the House of Elders on Thursday and representatives of the ruling party were no where to be found.
The Somaliland Globe has learnt that the leader of the opposition KULMIYE party, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo immediately contacted John Marshall, Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in Ethiopia, to inform him that UDUB, the ruling party, has failed to appear before the House of Elders as agreed, and expressed concern that the government was looking for ways and means to backtrack on the MOU to which it has already agreed.
The leader of UCID, Faisal Ali Warabe, said during his appearance before the House of Elders that he had personally contacted the presidential palace to inform representatives of the ruling party that all three political parties will be required to appear before the House of Elders to inform members ?that they [the parties] are all signatories to the MOU?.
The representatives of the ruling party initially said they will come to the House of Elders but later contacted Mr. Warabe to say their party had not been invited by the leader of the House of Elders- a claim rejected out of hand by all sides.




By Friday, the representatives of the ruling party declared and agreed to commit themselves to a dialogue with other parties with a view to creating a genuine, viable, permanent and sustainable solution to the current political impasse and, in particular, to implement this Memorandum of Understanding.
Somaliland Globe