Somaliland: Sleeping Political Giant Finally Wakes Up

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Rayale achieves normalcy in UDUBBy: Yusuf M Hasan

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – UDUB the main opposition political party is hold its much-delayed central committee-CC meeting on 27 August 2012.

Party chairperson Hon Dahir Rayale Kahin who also reminded the CC members nationwide that the deadline for registration is on the 25th of this month confirmed this.

The UDUB party leader and former Somaliland president Dahir Rayale Kahin seems to have managed to bring a semblance of harmony in the country’s oldest political party after recent splits that almost resulted in complete defragmentation.

While the party leader was reconfirming the CC meeting first announced by acting secretary general Mr. Abdi Halim Mohamed Muse on 25 July 2012 the party deputy chair Ahmed Yusuf Yasin is reported to have resigned his post.

The resigning deputy party leader and former Vice president under Rayale is directly credited with engulfing the party in chaos after he fronted the nomination of Jamal Ali Hussein as party leader and subsequent presidential candidate thus a fall out that ensued with the party splintering into a number of factions.

While it is, yet not clear what political direction the former VP and deputy UDUB leader will take, his departure preceded by that of his leadership nominee Jamal Ali to UCID seems to be a blessing in disguise.

According to UDUB, party headquarters the purpose of the Central committee meeting is strategize on the way forward as pertains to forthcoming local council elections in addition to internal party reconstruction occasioned by recent factional disputes that resulted in defections.

Though UDUB is the main opposition party and one of the nine registered as contestants of the 28th November 2012 local council elections, it is has lagged behind as the other 8 contestants have been on whirlwind tours of the country announcing lists of their candidates in each of the councils in the country.

With the cool and political acumen of Hon Dahir Rayale having brought a semblance of normalcy in UDUB coupled with the defection of resignation of trouble makers, party stalwarts and diehard supporters are sanguine of succeeding as one of the three top party’s in the council elections thus be re-registered as a national party again. This is according to the country’s constitution that stipulates that only three political parties be registered at any one given time.

Below is a brief recap of the events that lead to the almost collapse of UDUB as a political force in the country

The selection of youthful politician Jamal Ali Hussein as party leader and presidential candidate that was fronted by deputy chair Ahmed Yusuf Yasin who was acting in the absence of party leader and former president Hon Dahir Rayale Kahin has seen the fortunes of the former ruling and current main opposition dwindle.

The fall out saw Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, former Vice president and deputy party chair take his boss Dahir Rayale to court on charges of clinging to power against the constitution. The Constitution court sitting in Hargeisa that ruled in favour of Dahir Rayale also ordered Ahmed Yusuf to desist from creating more confusion and fragmentation within the party.

Following the legal defeat of Ahmed Yasin in Court, his choice of leader Jamal Ali Hussein decamped to the Justice and Welfare party-UCID of veteran politician Eng. Feisal Ali Warabe. The Jamal party hopping also ensued with the defection of a number of UDUB heavyweights among them former party spokesperson and a couple of regional leaders.

Ahmed Yasin seemed to have been irked by Rayale’s advice that the choice of presidential candidate was not relevant at the time as the party first needed to be in the top three in the local council elections.