The newly elected leader of Somalia’s separatist region of Somaliland was sworn-in on Tuesday in a well-organized event attended by local and regional officials, Radio Garowe reports.

Somaliland security forces had cordoned off areas around the presidential palace in the capital Hargeisa, where the dignitaries had arrived from other regions of Somaliland and neighboring countries to attend the historic transfer of power from President Dahir Riyale to the new leader, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, a former opposition chief.

Historic moment: Riyale [left] and Silanyo

Djibouti's information minister, Ethiopia's tourism minister and Kenya's deputy Parliament speaker were among the foreign dignitaries that attended Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony.

President Silanyo was sworn-in by Somaliland's chief justice, who repeated the words of the oath of office. Speaking briefly, Mr. Silanyo said he will announce his new Cabinet tomorrow and deliver his first official speech.

Mr. Riyale the outgoing leader of Somaliland, congratulated incoming President Silanyo and promised to work with the new administration.

He called on the people of Somaliland to "unite as the elections are over," and praised neighboring countries Djibouti and Ethiopia as "friends of Somaliland."

President Silanyo becomes the four president of Somaliland since 1991, after: Abdirahman Tur, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, and most recently, Dahir Riyale, who was president since 2002.

The separatist region is praised for maintaining relative peace and the semblance of governance, although the region remains dirt-poor in terms of development and its educated class lives abroad, like fellow Somalis, due to the overall instability of Somalia as a whole.

Peaceful transfer of power from one elected official to another is not completely uncommon in Somalia. In 2005, and again in 2009, Puntland State held presidential elections and in both cases the opposition leader was elected president.

However, the international community has largely neglected both peaceful regions of Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland, and has invested massively in Mogadishu where Al Shabaab insurgents are fighting to topple the unpopular but Western-backed TFG led by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

Somaliland, located in the northwest corner of Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.

The unrecognized separatist republic claims Sool and Sanaag regions, which are disputed with Puntland, a self-governing federal state that has never declared independence.

Somaliland's election did not take place in most of Sool and Sanaag regions, as Somaliland forces control a very limited area in these two regions.

During June 26 election day, at least four Somaliland election workers were killed in Sool region during election-day skirmishes.

GAROWE ONLINE