Somaliland II

* Reuters: Somali enclave pushes for nationhood with polls

HARGEISA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The breakaway enclave of Somaliland holds parliamentary elections on Thursday, trying to to prove it is a model of democracy in lawless Somalia and worthy of nationhood.

But the relatively peaceful would-be state faces resistance from its African neighbours in its quest for recognition because of the continent's longtime preference for leaving old colonial borders intact to avoid encouraging secessionist movements.

The polls to elect 82 parliamentarians will be the former British Somaliland's third elections since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, after local elections in 2002 and a presidential poll in 2003.

"Somaliland has fulfilled all the criteria for nationhood," President Dahir Rayale Kahin told reporters on Tuesday. "Now is the time for the international community to answer our request."

* Reuters: FACTBOX-Key facts about African territory Somaliland

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Somaliland, a former British protectorate and a semi-desert territory which broke away from Somalia in 1991, holds parliamentary elections on Sept. 29, its third democratic polls since seceding.

Here are some facts about the relatively stable democracy, which has not been internationally recognised:

AREA: With 137,600 sq. km. area, Somaliland is about the size of England and Wales. The Gulf of Aden is to the north, Somalia to the east, Ethiopia to the south and west and Djibouti to the northwest.

CAPITAL: Hargeisa

POPULATION: 3.5 million (Estimates of Somaliland government)

LANGUAGES: Somali, Arabic, English

RELIGION: Islam

ECONOMY: Despite having a thriving private sector, poverty and unemployment are widespread. The economy is highly dependent on remittances from its diaspora.
Livestock is the backbone of the economy. Embargoes on livestock exports, imposed by some Gulf countries, have seriously affected the economy. Duties collected at the port of Berbera, a trans-shipment centre used by landlocked Ethiopia, are a major source of revenue. Currency is Somaliland shilling.

GOVERNMENT: Legislative assembly is composed of an elected elders' chamber and a house of representatives. Head of the government is an elected president. The president nominates the cabinet, which is approved by the legislature.

Incumbent leader Dahir Rayale Kahin, from the ruling Unity of Democrats (UDUB) party, won Somaliland's first multi-party presidential elections in April 2003 with a slim majority. He was appointed in 2002 by Somaliland's council of elders, following the death of his predecessor Mohamed Ibrahim Egal.

MODERN HISTORY: Somaliland was independent for a few days in 1960, between the end of British colonial rule and its union with the former Italian colony of Somalia. In 1991, it declared independence after warlords overthrew Somali military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Somaliland voters overwhelmingly backed its self-declared independence in a May 2001 referendum.

Sources: Reuters, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (wwww.unpo.org), BBC.
(Compiled by Editorial Reference Unit Researchers in Bangalore)