Feb, 14 2010.

National candidates are usually supported by the people in the regions and the provinces they come from. It is a phenomenon that equally happens in all parts of the globe. Human instinct dictates
that. Rational thinking might sometimes reach a different conclusion. However, unless extra-ordinary circumstances vouch for, it is a rarity that a candidate loses in his or her turf.

Everybody likes that the home boy succeeds. Whether in politics or in sports, the success of the local boy or girl brings about pride and joy. In the United States presidential election history I remember when Mr Mondale won only Minnesota and may be one more and all the rest went to Reagan. People always like their home boy, and human biases and idiosyncrasies are always expressed through the secret ballot box. That is what freedom and democracy are all about. When I am crossing to Illinois , the bill board reads: Here is the proud state of Illinois , the home state of the President of the United States Barack Obama. Before that it was Texas and before that Arkansas. Here in Canada Stephen Harper who is reviled elsewhere has got the firm backing of Alberta,
and Pierre Trudeau, despite putting 3000 young Quebeckers behind bars in the War-Measures act, did manage to get close to 70 seats for his party in the next year.

In the light of that analysis it goes without saying that in
Somaliland President Rayalle will garner most votes in Awdal, Ahmed Silanyo in the East of Burao all the way to the west of Erigavo and Faisal in the south of the capital city Hargeisa.

It is usually the regions without candidates of their own that decide the best person for the job. Yet, regional support could also break the candidate if it is expressed in a fanatic unprincipled manner. There is a dangerous phenomena that is developing recently in the Awdal community in the diasporas. Few months ago a convention of Awdal people in North America was held here in Ottawa by one of those Diasporra NGOS that plan to work on Awdal development. I personally had a few points of contention
with the organizers and I clarified the points with them , before I gave my promise toattend. One of them was that the Keynote Speaker
Prof. Samater is a Somaliweyn therefore he has to be replaced. They readily accepted the suggestion as fair, and he participated the event as a member of a panel and he read a most scholarly
paper to the joy of everybody who was there. As a matter of fact it was one of the best conventions that I ever attended. Almost a dozen power point
presentations of all fields , from heath to education to geology and agriculture was presented. University graduates from 1950s to present day students were exchanging materials, experience and knowledge. Myself I was just a bystander, but for once I enjoyed not to be in the discussion. I was a very happy spectator and so were many like me. Over 70 thousand dollars were raised for development projects that this ARDAA group were planning. Politics was totally set aside and the spirit was : Let us dig the well together period. I wish they had invited other Somalilanders, it would have been then completely marvelous. In that same day about a dozen
individuals all from the presidents locality in Awdal were agrily protesting the convention in a close by park, simply because the organizer of the conference was known to be a supporter of the Kulmiye party. It was a very unfortunate incident that showed the the level of damage that a chauvinistic support could impact on the progress of the community. I never wanted to write
about that incident if I did not notice that the pattern is repeating itself and is evolving a bad omen for the president, a friend of mine that I support with all my heart.

A short while ago, professor Samater, who despite my differences with him on the Somaliland question is a man that I always admired from my days in Gabiley. A multi-talented person in sports in journalism in music and in academia. Professor Samater who I suspect is getting disillusioned with the Somaliweyn stuff(who would blame him) has
proposed a consultation process on the question of leadership for the Gadabursis. I was not one those invited, but I was happy about it , for I knew that the road that starts with the
Gadabursi or Isaaq or Dhul or War all end in Somaliland. I secretly said to myself Dr.Samater is taking first baby steps to Somaliland.

However, the process did not materialize, for
the whole project was attacked by the same group who were demonstrating against the ARDAA, under the same reason that it is a threat to president Rayalle. What a big nonsense. These guys are tearing the community apart and that is a greater danger to Rayalle and to Somaliland. Actions like that could have the opposite effect of the intended purposes. If you attack people who are not necessarily anti to your candidate, they automatically become anti, because of you.

It happened to Ahmed siilanyo. Did you ever ask yourself why the Mujahidiins like Ali Gurey, Dhagaweine, Tolwaa, Mohamed Omerhashi, Issa Uragte,Ahmed Issa, Abdirazak Eyale and many others left the Kulmiye Party? They did not leave because of Siilanyo. They left because of Taliban storm-troopers from the villages of his region. These people hijacked the convention to Garadag.

Everybody else except them was expendable. They
dictated the Agenda and the plat form and the result was a disaste. Adisasterr that the Kulmiye might find difficult in recovering from. Ahmed Siilanyo is a man with a history that I admire, and I deem him to be an honorable political adversary to my party, but villager supporters are a dangerous species. Ahmed Siilanyo could not find someone to defend him from his villager supporters. Kulmiye party is still bleeding from a spear swung from Garadag. I do not want the
same to happen to Mr Rayalle and his party. I do not want him to be a victim of a spear swung from Bonn And Qulujeed. The president is an honorable man. He is admired through out Somaliland by how he kept his co-Awdalities at bay and away from his
administeration.

Afterall the place belongs to everybody, and the last place belongs to the people of the presidents
home. First place belongs to those who come from the furthest homes from the presidents home. That is what is called justice and chivalery. Therefore I am warning to those villagers who want to come to the forefront, and I am telling them stay away. Those closest to the president should hide their faces. Otherwise mark my words you would cause his downfall.

Mohamud Tani