By M.A. Egge
The 3rd president of the Republic of Somaliland Dahir Rayaale Kahin has congratulated the new President-elect Dr. Abdirahman Abdillahi Mohamed Irro who came out triumphant following the win in the just concluded presidential and political party elections held a week ago.
His running mate and new Vice President-elect is Mohamed Ali Aw Abdi.
More messages of congratulations are continuing to pour and flow from all corners of the nation and abroad with all and sundry, from both reputed and eminent personalities to the common folks in the streets and the pastoralists.
The former Head of State, who is indeed credited as being the father of Somaliland’s democratization process for initiating and establishing multi-party elections and universal suffrage in the country, happily noted the taking root of the electioneering processes in a part of the world that democracy is unknown.
He pointed out his elation that the seating president has just conceded defeat and congratulated his successor, a scenario he depicted as first done by himself when he handed over to the 4th president the late Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud who passed on and was also laid to rest this same week.
Mr. Dahir Rayaale hailed the nation and the people of Somaliland for holding a very transparent, free, fair, just and, incident-free elections in a quite mature and peaceful manner that has been similarly held in high esteem by both international and local observers.
He similarly praised the National Electoral Commission for a job well done, managed and coordinated.
He termed and characterized it as the coming of age of democracy in the nation.
He urged the incoming president to steer the nation to greater heights and wished him well at the helm, ‘a seat position that he observed would not please everyone as hard as the occupier may try’.
He wished him well and prayed for him hoping that he would uphold righteousness as much as he could in steering the nation further.
The former president was monitored speaking on Wednesday night from France to the local SAHAN TV station’s Abdirahman Hirsi Heelo.