HARGEISA (SD) -The counting of votes for the Somaliland election began after sunset, but the official results will take up to a week to be announced, according to the region’s electoral commission.

The Chairman of the Somaliland Electoral Commission, Muse Hassan Haji, stated that the results from each district and polling station would be available within two days.

“When the district results are finalized, they will be forwarded to the regional level and then to the central headquarters of the commission. The overall tallying of these various results from the polling station level, district level, and regional level will take seven days,” said Chairman Muse.

The current President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, is contesting the presidential election against the Waddani Party candidate, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Cirro, and the UCID Party candidate, Faisal Ali Waraabe.

The organizational elections also feature a competition among the three existing parties and seven other organizations, vying for the three official party positions in Somaliland for the next ten years.