Zürcher Nachrichten - Somaliland to vote amid Horn of Africa tensions

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.110066
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.856892
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.244275
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.283008
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.53576
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.785942
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.497837
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 35.9978
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.915093
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

Somaliland to vote amid Horn of Africa tensions
Somaliland to vote amid Horn of Africa tensions / Photo: LUIS TATO - AFP

Somaliland to vote amid Horn of Africa tensions

Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia at the centre of a diplomatic storm, will hold a presidential election on Wednesday at a tense moment in the Horn of Africa.

Text size:

The territory on the northwest point of Somalia unilaterally declared independence in 1991 and has been far more stable and peaceful than the rest of the country since then.

The self-proclaimed republic has its own money, passports, and army, but has never been recognised by any country in the world.

Now, it has become the focus of a major dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia that international observers fear could spark conflict in the restive region.

In January, Somaliland president Muse Bihi signed an agreement with Ethiopia, offering a lease on 20 kilometres (12 miles) of its Red Sea coastline to its land-locked neighbour.

He says Ethiopia will recognise Somaliland in return, though this has never been confirmed by Addis Ababa and full details of the deal have never been made public.

The memorandum of understanding has aroused fury in Somalia, sparking a verbal and military escalation with Ethiopia that has alarmed the international community.

- 'Main agenda' -

Bihi's opponents for the presidency, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Faysal Ali Warabe, have not criticised the agreement.

In power since 2017, the 76-year-old Bihi of the Kulmiye party has pledged there will be progress on the deal if he is re-elected.

"That's his main argument, his main agenda in the election," said local lawyer and political analyst Guleid Ahmed Jama.

But Jama said the economy and peaceful stability were more important to the impoverished territory's 1.2 million voters.

While pre-election street rallies have been a lively riot of myriad colours, the campaign has often been heated, with the opposition for example accusing Bihi of dividing Somaliland.

An opposition supporter, Hood Abdullahi Adan, told AFP that the region had "gone backwards" during Bihi's seven years in power, listing "conflict, inflation and hunger" among its problems.

Critics accuse Bihi, a former soldier who led the fight for independence, of an authoritarian rule that has created clan divisions and led to the loss of the Sool region in 2023 after months of clashes with pro-Mogadishu forces.

There were also protests -- violently suppressed by the government -- after Bihi delayed the election by two years in 2022 for "technical and financial reasons".

Bihi's main rival is Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi -- known as "Irro" -- of the Waddani party.

A former ambassador of Somalia to the then Soviet Union and Finland, and a long-time speaker of the Somaliland parliament, the 68-year-old offers few concrete policy changes but says he will be a more unifying figure.

"There is not much visible difference between, ideologically speaking, the two main political parties. But there are differences between the personalities of the contenders. And that's very important here in Somaliland," said Jama.

Y.Keller--NZN