Opposition Leader Wins Somaliland Presidential Contest

The Somaliland electoral commission announced Tuesday that opposition leader Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro” defeated incumbent Muse Bihi Abdi for the presidency of the breakaway region located on the Horn of Africa. Independent observers described the election as peaceful. Irro, candidate for the Waddani (National) party captured 63.92% of the vote, compared with Bihi’s 34.81%. A third candidate, Faysal Ali Warabe, received 0.74% of the votes. The election was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but was delayed due to political differences. Bihi, who defeated Irro in the last election in 2017, promised during the campaign that he would respect the results of the election. (VOA)