Hargeisa (SD) – The Somaliland Civil Society Forum (SONSAF) yesterday congratulated the country on the successful conduct of the House of Representatives and Local Council elections, the election of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives and the overall process.

SONSAF Chairperson Anwar Abdirahman Warsame spoke to the media, outlined the position of NGOs on the history of the election process and the lessons to be learned.

“Somaliland’s unified national elections on May 31, which ended on August 3, 2021, it was indeed a democratic election in line with the democratic system adopted by the Republic of Somaliland, starting from the day of the election, from the day the Supreme Court announced the results to the day the speakership was elected, it was all going on in a democratic way,” The Chairperson said.

Adding “We congratulate the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Abdirizak Khalif Ahmed, and his deputies Said Mire Farah and Ali Hamud Jibril. We also congratulate the three defeated candidates in the speakership elections who accepted the results of the Election. Anwar said.

The SONSAF Chairperson went on to highlight the process of compromise in Somaliland politics “Somaliland, unlike the rest of the world, has a long history of compromise. In fact, in the event of a political dispute or a legal dispute, a compromise is always reached. For example, what happened in the House of Representatives yesterday was a political maturity.”

Finally, the Chairman of SONSAF, pointed out to the new Members of the House of Representatives the scope of the task ahead and the important laws that the nation is facing.

“Many tangible laws that Somaliland society needs have not been moved, including the Banking Law, the Media Law and the Rape Law, so the new members of the House of Representatives have a huge task ahead of them.” Anwar said.

SONSAF played a key role in the electoral process and is a partner in democracy and good governance in Somaliland.