An overwhelming majority of Somaliland nationals want the nation’s presidential elections be held this year when the term of the current president ends in November.
While this looks unlikely, the citizens expressed their disappointment with attempts to extend the term President Muse Bihi.
In a countrywide survey carried by the institute of Public Policy discovered that 92 percent of the 3,300 people (both male and female) interviewed want the presidential elections held this year.
A total of 3,300 people were interviewed for this survey. Out of the 3,330, 1,980 of them were male and 1,320 were female.
The respondents of this survey were almost equally distributed among the 6 big cities of Hargeisa, Borama, Berbera, Burao, Erigavo and Las-anod in Somaliland A majority of the respondents also stated they prefer the presidential elections held ahead of the registration of political parties.
The respondents feared that opening room for the registration of new political parties, although constitutionally mandated risks aggravating political tensions and causing conflicts.
They therefore believe that the focus should be placed on the upcoming presidential election which they consider to be central in the restoration of political normalcy.
One respondent in Burao pointed out that; “Logically speaking and thinking about what is in the best interest of the people and country, the presidential election should be held first, and political associations should not be opened. At this point, Somaliland does not need another war or any kind of conflict so to keep the peace and continue the progress, the presidential election should be held on time.”
In view of the difficulties related to the organization of presidential elections, 48.4 % of respondents expressed their support for the extension of the president’s term while 40.9% of respondents do not support an extension.
Of the 40.9% of respondents that are against an extension, 29.1% gave ‘President’sterm is over’ as the reason why they do not support an extension, 3.1% cited the president’s ‘poor performance’ while 7.5% considered any extension to be unconstitutional and therefore opposed it.However, the majority of respondents, 58.4%, refrained from answering this question.