THT-The President of the Republic of Somaliland, H.E. Muse Bihi Abdi, today received ambassadors and diplomats from the European Union and the United Kingdom who arrived in Somaliland to observe yesterday’s parliamentary and local council elections.
Pres Bihi thanked the members of the delegation for coming to Somaliland and for the importance they have given to monitor the elections of the people and the voice of the people of Somaliland, and pointed out that Somaliland is a fully fledged country grew up in a democracy.
The President reaffirmed to the Ambassadors and Diplomats that the Republic of Somaliland is committed to maintaining self-sufficiency, the path to democracy and development, in order to realize the aspirations of the people of the Republic of Somaliland.
President Muse Bihi Abdi, told the delegation that the people of Somaliland are a mature people who maintain peace and stability in their nation, and this is reflected in the peaceful process in which they cast their ballots and how responsive they were to the various directives issued by them calling their leaders in the days before the election.
He also told members of the European Union and the United Kingdom that the Republic of Somaliland was more independent than at the time of the unification of Somalia, and noted that he had already told the world at the Djibouti conference “Somaliland will never be able to return to the failed unity of Somalia, that the Somaliland people lost in the 1960s.
The President thanked the people of the Republic of Somaliland for their maturity and experience in the one vote one man elections in the world, and for role the security agencies to play in ensuring that yesterday’s elections were held in a peaceful manner. He thanked the National Parties for their important role in holding the local and regional elections, and thanked the National Electoral Commission for its invaluable contribution to the holding of two by-elections in the country.
President Bihi thanked the international observers, diplomats and ambassadors, local and international press the wonderful & beautiful way participated in the elections themselves.
The ambassadors and diplomats who spoke praised the electoral process in the Republic of Somaliland as a whole and the maturity of the Somaliland people who went to the polls to see different people, men and women, and the support of different parties queuing up for everyone to cast their ballots safely, regardless of party affiliation.
The President was accompanied by the Minister of Interior, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Acting Minister and Commanders of the Armed Forces, Police, Corrections and Intelligence.
The members of the ambassadors and diplomats received by the President included: –
Danish Ambassador Ole Thonke, Finnish Ambassador Erik Lundberg, Swedish Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, Deputy Head of the Italian Embassy, Mr. Massimiliano Bertollo, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy Mr. Stian Christensen, Head of the British Embassy in Somaliland Stuart Brown, Johan Svensson from the Swedish embassy, Oliver Unverdonben from the German embassy, Josefine Jensen from the Danish embassy and Tomas Kirchener from the EU.
Editors note:
A delegation of EU ambassadors and British diplomats have left Hargeisa today, although there is no word on their arrival their views on the peaceful nature of the elections?
While observers from Africa today issued a statement praising the peaceful participation of the Somaliland people in the voted Representative and local elections, and other observers are expected to release their preliminary report tomorrow
Two members of the Limited International Election Observation Mission @LIEOMSomaliland from the UK and Ethiopia observing the voting process for today’s elections for local councils and the parliament of #Somaliland #SomalilandElections2021 pic.twitter.com/rUDtVLaHDq
— LIEOM Somaliland 2021 (@LIEOMSomaliland) May 31, 2021