Hours after conceding defeat and congratulating Bashe Mohamed Farah on his election as the new Speaker of the House, Abdirahman Mohamed Talyanle held a press conference on Sunday evening disputing yesterday’s election results, and declared that he is the new Speaker of Somaliland’s House of Representatives.
“The truth has now come out. Effective immediately, I am the new Speaker of the House. I received 39 votes. Bashe Mohamed Farah is the one who received 38 votes, not me,” Talyanle claimed.
Talyanle, a Waddani MP for Sanaag Region, accused Farah and Somaliland’s ruling political party, Kulmiye, of rigging the election in Farah’s favor.
Talyanle also claims that he has proof that the election was rigged. Talyanle hasn’t provided any proof yet.
Many Somalilanders are questioning Talyanle’s rejection of the results since the vote was held by a ‘show of hands’, not by secret ballot. The ‘show of hands’ voting method is said to be more precise and eliminates any possibility of election fraud, since both camps had their own observers counting the votes.
