Back on track? Somaliland after its 2017 presidential election. Oxford Univ Press

ON 13 DECEMBER 2017, SOMALILAND’S FIFTH PRESIDENT, Musa Bihi Abdi, was inaugurated. Bihi ran as a candidate for the ruling Kulmiye party after the incumbent president, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud ‘Silanyo’, decided not to seek re-election. Article Nine of Somaliland’s Constitution allows for only three political parties, and Bihi defeated Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Irro’ of Waddani party and Faisal Ali ‘Warabe’ of the For Justice and Development (UCID) party. The race was widely expected to be a close contest between Kulmiye and Waddani, with UCID playing a minor role. Ultimately, though, Bihi secured an outright majority with 55.1 percent (305,909 votes) to Irro’s 40.7 per cent (226,092 votes) and Warabe’s 4.2 percent 

Written By
Pegg, Scott ; Walls, Michael, Oxford University Press, African Affairs Reader.