The Constitutional Court of Somaliland has certified the results of the November 13 presidential election, which saw opposition candidate Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi declared the winner.
The court unanimously ruled on Wednesday that the election was free and fair.
Abdullahi, widely known as Irro, won the November 13 presidential election against the incumbent President Muse Bihi Abdi.
Irro, who ran on Waddani Party ticket, got 407,908 votes, an equivalent of 64% of the valid votes, to win the election.
Voter turnout
Bihi, who ran on the Kulmiye Party ticket, got 225,519 votes, an equivalent of 35% of the valid votes, to come second.
A third candidate, Faysal Ali Warabe of UCID Party, got 4,699 votes, or 0.7% of the valid votes.
In the results officially released on November 19, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Somaliland, Muse Yusuf Hassan, said the voter turnout on November 13 was 53%.
Some 1.2 million voters had registered to cast their ballots, but nearly 648,000 voted in the recent election.
Delayed election
The polls in Somaliland were initially scheduled for 2022, but political issues resulted in their delay.
The Somali National News Agency (SONNA) reported that the November 13 elections were conducted in a "peaceful and orderly" manner.
The outgoing President Bihi, who is a retired air force pilot, has served as Somaliland's leader for seven years.
During campaigns, 76-year-old Bihi promised to respect the electoral outcome, whichever way it goes.
Who is Irro?
In 2017, Bihi defeated Irro, getting nearly 306,000, or 55% of the valid votes, against Irro's 226,000, or 41% of the valid votes.
In his campaign message this year, 69-year-old Irro pledged economic and democratic reforms, as well as more jobs.
President-elect Irro was born on April 29, 1955 in Hargeisa.
He pursued his higher education in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.
Parliamentary speaker for 12 years
His Waddani Party's website says Irro has a diploma in management from an institute in Somalia, and a bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration, both from American universities.
In 1981, he was employed by Somalia's foreign affairs ministry as a diplomat, working at the Somali Embassy in Russia, before moving to Finland to live with his family in the 1990s.
Irro returned to Somalia in 1999 and helped in co-founding the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID).
In 2005, he was elected to Somaliland's parliament, and thereafter served as parliamentary speaker for 12 years.
Deputy president
In 2012, he co-founded the Waddani Party, and was chosen as its first chairperson, and also its presidential candidate in the 2017 elections.
In the 2021 parliamentary and local elections, Waddani Party secured majority seats.
SONNA reported that Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud "extended his heartfelt congratulations to Irro, the newly elected president of the Somaliland administration in northern Somalia."
Irro's running mate, Mohamed Aw-Ali Abdi, will serve as deputy president of Somaliland.
Swearing-in
Irro and his deputy are scheduled to take the oath office in December.
Somaliland, which claims it has autonomy since 1991, is not internationally recognised as a nation, with the international community considering it as a territory within the Federal Republic of Somalia.
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