Constitution Referendum in Breakaway Somaliland ConcludedThe referendum for the constitution in the breakaway republic of Somaliland has been concluded with final results.Ahmed Jambir Suldan, the chairman of the central committee for the referendum, said that among the 1,188, 154 voters, 1,148,399 persons voted "yes" to the constitution of Somaliland, while 34, 111 voted "no". The administration of Mohamed Hajji Ibrahim Egal, the leader of the secessionist policy, amended the constitution aimed at legalizing the self-independence of Somaliland from Somalia. The Supreme Court of the breakaway Somaliland will legalize the voting results over the next few days. Somaliland, a former British protectorate, split from Somalia 10 years ago after that country's brutal civil war. Yet Somaliland's independence has never been recognized by the international community. Last year, clan leaders from all over Somalia elected a new transitional national government led by President Abdiqasin Salad Hassan after a lengthy meeting in neighboring Djibouti. Abdiqasin's government, which sits in the Somali capital Mogadishu, is fiercely opposed to the idea of a referendum in Somaliland, which it claims as part of Somalia. |
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