Somalilandsun: Gates to the Somaliland parliamentary and local elections 2021 opened at 6 am and are set to close 6 pm on this Monday day of 31st May.
As the polls close there were no incidents of security concern anywhere withiin the 2700 polling stations in the six and 23 electoral regions and districts
That sweet moment of appreciation. A mother who voted one of the polling stations I visited, she couldn't hesitate to thank one of #Somaliland especial forces . #Somalilandelection2021 #somalilandvotes pic.twitter.com/SP8hEgPLdW
— Ph Yusuf Dahir SL CN (@yyusufd) May 31, 2021
The parliamentary elections are being held more than a decade late, whereas the municipal elections should have taken place four years ago.
More than one million of the region’s four million people are registered to vote in the elections.
While 246 candidates are running for 82 parliamentary seats, 966 candidates are competing for 249 district municipality offices.
Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, leader of the opposition Wadani party Abdirahman Irro, and leader of Ucid party Feysal Ali Warabe have already cast their votes.
“This morning, I cast my vote in the country’s first combined Parliamentary & Local Council Elections at a polling station in the Civil Service Commission in Hargeisa. Somaliland votes for peace. It is an honour for our people and the Horn of Africa,” the president tweeted.
International Observers , including several African nations and organizations, are monitoring the elections.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate in northwestern Somalia, declared independence in 1991 from the rest of the Horn of Africa country after the collapse of Siad Barre’s military government.
More than three decades later, no country has recognized the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland as an independent state.
