The opposition leader of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, commonly known as Irro, has won the territory’s presidential election.
Born in Hargeisa, president-elect Irro started his education in Somalia and later attended college in the US where he graduated with a master’s degree in business administration.
After university in the U.S., the president-elect pursued a diplomatic career in 1981 when he joined the Somalia’s foreign service.
A former British protectorate that joined the rest of Somalia on July 1,1960, Somaliland is situated in a strategic part of Africa, and is view as a gateway to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The president-elect secured 64% of the vote to become Somaliland’s sixth president since the self-declared region broke away from Somalia in 1991.
The 69-year-old Irro who is a former speaker of Somaliland’s parliament, defeated incumbent president Musa Abdi Bihi, who secured about 35% of the vote.
The election which is said to have been peaceful was witnessed by diplomats from the United States and nine European countries.
The newly elected president will face several challenges including grappling with the economy and the diplomatic fallout over Somaliland’s coastal deal with Ethiopia.
He promised that his party would review a contentious deal to lease landlocked Ethiopia a 20km (12-mile) section of its coastline for 50 years to set up a naval base – an agreement that has caused a diplomatic feud in the region in past years.
Addis Ababa expects to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation as part of the deal.
Somalia regards the deal as an act of aggression on its sovereignty since it considers Somaliland as part of its territory.
While thanking and appreciating the people of Somaliland and outgoing President Bihi, who has led the self-declared territory since 2017, the president-elect said, “We are all winners, the Somaliland state won”.
