A democratic beacon of hope in a dangerous part of the world

The July 11 bombings in Uganda carried out by the al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab exposed the global terror threat emerging in the Horn of Africa – a region also plagued by destitution and authoritarian rule.  This week, however, about 3.5 million people in the region will celebrate a remarkable victory for democracy.  The government of a Muslim population just north of the territory controlled by al Shabaab will experience a peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties one month after a free and fair presidential election.  The government conducted the multi-party election by its own initiative and with limited external assistance or pressure.  The feat, which has so far received little attention in the West, reaffirms the idea that democracy can take root in cultures of any religious and socio-economic background, and it occurs at a time when U.S. foreign policy has shied away from promoting democratic allies in strategic parts of the world.

This democratic success story takes place in Somaliland, which borders a country to the south that is overwhelmingly controlled by terrorists (Somalia), sits 150 miles across the Gulf of Aden from one of al Qaeda’s stronger safe-havens (Yemen), is roughly 70 miles south of one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terror (Eritrea), and is separated by only one country from the site of a recent genocide (Sudan).

Somaliland’s nascent democracy features a bicameral parliament and an independent executive branch, as stipulated by a constitution that its people approved through a national referendum in May 2001.  A mere 80 votes separated the victor from the runner-up in Somaliland’s 2003 presidential election, yet the miniscule margin of victory – rare in a region where incumbents generally expect to win 99 percent of the vote (as happened in Ethiopia’s May parliamentary elections) – generated no internal violence.

This year’s presidential election witnessed an opposition candidate defeat the incumbent by 16 percentage points.  Somaliland’s independent National Electoral Commission, a seven-member body that must include at least two members nominated by the opposition parties, has asked the public to support the new leadership, and the outgoing president accepted defeat without a challenge.  Somaliland’s citizens have refrained from engaging in any form of political violence in the month since the election (compare that to the 1,500 people killed in Kenya following elections in 2007).

Hundreds of thousands of Somaliland’s 1.06 million registered voters (men and women age 16 and older) rejected threats of terror and defied radical Islamist ideology to cast their votes.  The leader of al Shabaab described democratic elections as “the devil’s principles” and called on the people of Somaliland to oppose the election in an audio-recording released just two days prior to the vote.  An internal U.N. report warned of the risk of suicide bombers targeting the election, and Somaliland’s security and intelligence forces arrested several suspected terrorists in the weeks leading up to the poll.  The terrorists were kept at bay, however, allowing Somalilanders to express their will in a vote that the International Republican Institute’s robust team of observers deemed “peaceful, without major incident, and generally [in accordance with] international standards.”