Somaliland opposition leader Cirro defeats incumbent in presidential election

19/11/2024 19:07

        Somaliland opposition leader Abdirahman Cirro defeated incumbent president Muse Bihi Abdi in last week's election, the electoral commission said on Tuesday, setting up a leadership change as the breakaway Somali region pushes for global recognition.
        
        Somaliland has had de facto self-rule since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, but has not been recognised by any country, restricting access to international finance and the ability of its six million people to travel.
        
        Cirro, leader of the opposition Waddani party, won 64% of the vote against Bihi's 35%, said Musa Hassan, chairman of the Somaliland Electoral Commission.
        Occupying a strategic location at the juncture of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, Somaliland sees international recognition as being within reach after signing a preliminary deal with landlocked Ethiopia in January that would grant Addis Ababa a strip of land on its coast in exchange for recognition.