SUNDAY EDITORIAL | A noteworthy example of the ideological conflict between "Western democracy" and "radical Islam" takes place in the self-declared "Republic of Somaliland"

The pursuit of democracy in Africa has been advanced by politicians eager to appease Western powers and attract foreign direct investment chiefly as a means of clinging on to power, and secondly, for the well-being of their respective societies. Thus, this remains the main reason Africa's post-colonial history has been plagued by dictators and tyrants, many of whom were Western-educated elites in their own countries. In recent decades, and especially so during the leadership of U.S. President George W. Bush, the notion of spreading the idea of "Western democracy" to the Third World has gained historic momentum and unprecedented funding – with Western thinkers aiming to mainly target Muslim masses in Africa and parts of Asia, including the Middle East, in order to contain the spread of "radical Islam."

A noteworthy example of the ideological conflict between "Western democracy" and "radical Islam" takes place in the self-declared "Republic of Somaliland" – an unrecognized independent country located inside Somalia, a country strategically located in the Horn of Africa sub-region with close proximity to the Middle East. Somalia is predominately Muslim and has endured nearly 20 years of civil war, mass exodus, droughts and national disintegration. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia, has faired relatively better than most regions in southern and central Somalia. Since unilaterally declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland has had a functioning government with a President, a bi-cameral Parliament and a Judiciary. The separatist republic has held local, parliamentary and presidential elections that have been widely described as peaceful and orderly.

Somaliland's leaders have ascribed to the view that international recognition can come from Western powers and, therefore, have modeled their government on democratic nations in the West. The concept, of course, was to conform to "Western democracy" as best as possible and to campaign for international recognition, by pointing to popular elections and a stable political system in a part of the world largely wracked by political violence and ruled by dictators. The "war on terror" madness of the Bush years was expertly played by Somaliland leaders, who arrested "terrorists" and warned Western powers about the spread of "radical Islam."

Election crisis
Somaliland President Dahir Riyale was elected in a popular vote in 2003, beating the closest challenger, Mr. Ahmed Silanyo, by less than 90 votes. The opposition leader accepted President Riyale's election victory – itself a remarkable feat in regional politics. Five years later, nearing the end of Riyale's presidential term in office, Somaliland's upper house of parliament, the House of Guurti, issued a controversial vote awarding President Riyale an additional year in office. Naturally, opposition leaders were angered by the move and thus began Somaliland's long election crisis.

Since that controversial vote, President Riyale received another six-month term extension and attempted to gain additional time in office by recently postponing the delayed presidential election scheduled for September 29, 2009, thereby deepening Somaliland's election crisis until riots erupted in the capital Hargeisa when three civilians were killed in clashes between protestors and the police on Sep. 12, 2009.

International mediators, namely representatives from the United Kingdom and Ethiopia, traveled to Hargeisa to intervene on behalf of the international community to help protect Somaliland from political collapse, avoid the opening of a power vacuum that would attract rebel elements associated with the ongoing wars in south-central Somalia and, again, to contain the spread of "radical Islam" in a part of Somalia where "Western democracy" is gaining a foothold. On September 30, 2009, Somaliland's political rivals inked a six-point agreement ending the election crisis and firmly placing Somaliland back on the road towards good governance and democratic rule. For this, the people and politicians of Somaliland deserve our praise and prayers – that peace in Hargeisa can only be peace for the Somali people.

Lessons of democracy
In terms of Somaliland, the mediator's role played by foreigners is truly a loss, but acceptable under the circumstances as a last resort. Somaliland has long been cherished as a place where the local people have resolved their political differences "under a tree," as often stated by Somaliland's leader when addressing international media. In the end, what matters is that the peace was preserved and the system left largely intact.

Secondly, in terms of lessons to be learned, Somaliland's election crisis provides a case-study and perhaps a blueprint for creating the perfect ensemble of African customs and Western ideas, thereby increasing harmony between the local people and the international community. The election crisis was triggered by two key factors: 1) President Riyale's term extensions; and 2) the dispute over voter-registration. When addressing the latter, one must take into account that the push for "Western democracy" in Somaliland – with hordes of people in line, displaying ink-stained fingers – injected more than US$15million to fund the voter-registration process, all the while a devastating drought raged in many parts of Somaliland, and Somalia as a whole.

One must then ask: is such funding, requiring personnel, equipment and valuable time, better used funding water and food relief projects and creating economic opportunities in the countryside and coastal areas, or financing a multi-million dollar computer project intended for the industrialized world? Truly speaking, "Western democracy" is successful in Western countries because they are not facing a massive humanitarian challenge, such as a devastating drought, or functioning under a delicate political situation. Furthermore, such multi-million dollar projects are economically beneficial to Western countries – who initially donated the funds – in the sense that the expertise and the equipment mainly originate in the West.

The lesson here is that Somaliland's leaders need to re-envision the region's long-term interests and top priorities – that blindly pursuing another man's vision of the world will ultimately lead to crises. Appeasing Western powers at one's own expense might be a temporary means of clinging on to power, but ultimately, what will that mean for the next three generations of children born in Somaliland?

Garowe Online Editorial, editorial@garoweonline.com