| Front Page |
EDITORIAL
The successful general elections that South Africa witnessed on April 14, 2004, the third of its type to be held there since the fall of apartheid in 1994, have put an end to any uncertainty about the future of democracy in that country. The election process which a Somaliland team of 16 observers (the largest group from any single African country) had the chance to attend for the first time, was conducted smoothly all over the country including such hot spots as the Kuwazulu Natal province. As expected, President Thabo Mbeki’s party, the African National Congress, won the elections by a landslide. The opposition parties accepted the results graciously.
The factors as to why South Africa’s general elections for 2004 passed without problems are many. One main reason was that that country’s Independent Electoral Commission was actually independent in the true sense of the word. Secondly, the IEC had put a lot of organizational effort into the process, leaving nothing to chance. The IEC’s integrity was even further enhanced in the eyes of the contesting parties by the presence of Party Liaison Committee members at its headquarters in Pretoria as well as in each of the 9 provincial offices across the country.
The importance of the PLCs was not lost on the Somaliland observer team which included 5 National Electoral Commissioners and representatives of the country’s 3 political parties and women's groups as well as the editor of this newspaper. There is no doubt that the Somaliland observers learned a number of useful ideas from their experience of the South African election that they intend to utilize in the upcoming parliamentary elections, slated for early next year. This must seem ironic considering the tragic experience of 1988 when Hawker Hunter military aircrafts piloted by South Africans bombed Somaliland’s major urban and rural centers, killing thousands of people and destroying thousands of homes.
In the last decade, the people of Somaliland have been involved in a tremendous effort for reconciliation, demobilization, rebuilding, repatriation and democratization without outside help. It is encouraging that this unique African experience is now attracting a growing interest from South Africa, largely from civil society groups. Given South Africa's economic power and technical know-how, plus Somaliland's untapped oil and mineral resources, it is only right and logical to expect South Africa's government and businesses to enhance their level of engagement with Somaliland.
Taking a more pro-active policy toward Somaliland also has the additional advantage of fitting neatly with South Africa's status as a force for strengthening democracy and good governance in Africa. Somaliland's coming parliamentary election is an excellent opportunity for South Africa to assist a fellow African country in the process of democratization and thereby cement its well-deserved pro-democracy status.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives