Tuesday January 18, 2022
Somaliland President Muse Bihi and UK MP Willamson
Hargeisa (HOL) - Muse Bihi, the Somaliland President, thanked a UK Member of Parliament for tabling a motion to debate recognition of Somaliland.
"Thank you, Gavin Williamson, for leading the way and calling for a debate on the recognition of the Republic of Somaliland. I hope your Government will listen to you and other MPs at the House of Commons. All Somalilanders in and abroad are waiting this rightful ambition.”
Williamson, a former UK Secretary of State, is leading a debate on the recognition of Somaliland by the British Parliament, which took place on Tuesday at the Westminster House of Commons after being delayed for a day.
The motion gained some support from several UK politicians.
MPs Stephen Doughty, Tom Tugendhat and Zac Goldsmith, along with James Carver, a former member of the European Parliament, all welcomed the house debate on British recognition of Somaliland.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament, said he supported MP Gavin Williamson's proposal to recognize Somaliland.
"This is an important debate. We will support Gavin Williamson's proposal to speak for a society and a country that has been independent for many years," Tugendhat said.
Councillors Zac Goldsmith and Stephen Doughty also welcomed it, describing it as an essential issue, and said they would attend and look forward to it.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPO), in a statement posted on its Twitter account, praised the UK Parliament's debate on Somaliland's recognition, citing the reasons why Somaliland deserved recognition.
Although the Somali government has not publicly commented on Britain’s recognition of Somaliland, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdi said Muse Ali spoke with UK Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, on the phone on Tuesday to discuss political developments in the Horn of Africa.
“The Somali government was not disappointed by the announcement, and Somali Foreign Minister Abdi Said Muse Ali, who spoke by telephone with British Minister for Africa Vicky Ford, discussed the unity of Somaliland and Somalia.”
Before Somali independence, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland was a British Protectorate. It received independence from the UK on June 26, 1960, before unifying with Somalia less than a week later.