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Somaliland lawmakers elect new Speaker amid ongoing conflict in Las Anod
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    Sunday July 23, 2023

    Hargeisa (HOL) - Somaliland House of Representatives elected Yassin Hajji Faratoon as the new Speaker of the House during a voting session held in Hargeisa on Sunday.

    Lawmaker Faratoon secured 46 out of 81 votes, defeating his opponent MP Mohamed Khadar Dahir, who received 35 votes.

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    Ali Hamud Jibril, another Member of Parliament among the candidates for the seat, withdrew from the race late last night. He cited that some MPs from his constituency, who had previously pledged their support, had changed their allegiance, leading to his decision to step down.

    Prof. Faratoon previously contested for this position in 2021, but the outgoing Speaker, Abdirisaaq Khalif Ahmed, won the election. Yassin Hajji Faratoon, born in the contested city of Las Anod in 1947, completed his primary education in the same city and attended Dayaha High School in Erigabo.

    In June, Abdirisakh Khalif Ahmed resigned as the Speaker and joined the SCC-Khatumo administration, citing the Somaliland army's bombardment on Las Anod, his constituency. He also relinquished his parliamentary seat and membership in the Wadani party. However, the Somaliland attorney general's office accused Ahmed of undermining the legitimacy of the self-proclaimed republic.

    Abdirisakh Khalif is now among the highest-ranking officials from Somaliland to defect to the administration of SCC, the Sool, Sanaag, and Ayn regions, collectively known as SCC-Khatumo.

    Las Anod has been a hotspot of conflict since February 6, witnessing clashes between forces in the self-declared state of Somaliland and local militia from the Dhulbahante clan in northern Somalia.

    In June, the United Nations Security Council expressed concerns about the persistent violence in Las Anod, located in the Sool region of northern Somalia. This ongoing conflict has resulted in a significant number of civilian casualties and has displaced over 150,000 people. Somaliland said it was worried the UNSC was "misinformed about the facts on the ground" and appealed for support and understanding from the world body.

     





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