A decade after the former British protectorate of Somaliland severed ties with the rest of Somalia and declared independence, the fledgling state took the next steps toward democracy by holding direct elections. This transition occurred over the course of four years and three elections, during which the people of Somaliland elected district councils in 2002, a president and vice president in 2003, and a parliament in 2005. Somaliland’s democratic elections, the first in the Horn of Africa since 1969, were landmark achievements, as traditional social and political mechanisms legitimized the results and reinforced stability in the aftermath. The inexperienced and under-resourced National Electoral Commission successfully navigated the development of political parties, avoided the potential for violence when the margin of victory in the presidential election was only 80 votes, and managed an improved parliamentary election by introducing innovations that made the electoral process operate more smoothly. By avoiding violence and building consensus for peaceful, democratic transitions, Somaliland’s first elections highlighted a mix of traditional and democratic innovations conducted in a resource-poor environment.

 

 

Associated Interview(s):  Adan Yusuf Abokor, Shukri Ismail, Mohamed Fadal

Citizens of the Philippines braced for renewed election violence in 2010, as bitter political feuds and longstanding family rivalries simmered. Candidate-hired private militias and other armed political groups threatened to disrupt presidential and local voting, as they had in 2004. The job of building safety, trust and credibility into the electoral process fell to Jose A.R. Melo, a former associate justice of the Supreme Court who took over as head of the Commission on Elections in 2008, after a series of scandals that culminated in the resignation of the panel’s chairman. Appointed by the nation’s president, Melo recognized the urgent need to restore trust and credibility to the electoral process. While working to automate the balloting process, Melo sought a broader approach to reducing electoral violence. In conjunction with the police and army, Melo devised and implemented stricter rules regarding weapons and security personnel, and he organized a network of security centers that enforced the new rules.  The May 2010 elections experienced less violence than the previous presidential and local elections in 2004, although questions arose over the susceptibility of the security forces to political coercion.