Somaliland oppositions determined to hold mass protests

Somaliland opposition parties Ucid and Waddani reiterated to proceed with the planned mass protests in the country. In a press conference the two chairmen of the parties said the right to demonstrate “peacefully” is granted by the constitution and no one can stop them.

The two opposition parties accused Bihi’s administration of pressuring members of the national electoral commission to resign and called on the public to stage mass protests to prevent electoral delays and to “hijack” the national electoral commission by the president.

The statement of the opposition came a few hours after the interior minister banned the protests and blamed the two chairmen for ignoring to meet with him to explain the purpose and the date of their protests. The minister called on the police to do everything possible to prevent the protests.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Waddani party Hirsi Ali Haji Hassan denied Minister Kahin’s claim that opposition parties requested a term extension for both the president and political parties. He ruled out that opposition parties had ever discussed the issue with the minister.