Somaliland Presidential Election Debate.
In October 2017, Inspire Group has organized and executed the first-ever Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Debate in Somaliland. This was also the first of its kind that was successfully held in East Africa where all the standing candidates openly debated on live TVs. Both locally and internationally, the Debate was hailed as another milestone for the credibility and maturity of Somaliland democracy. The Debate has become the most viewed TV programme in Somaliland, reaching more than an estimated 9 million viewers and 3.1 twitters users.
Somaliland Presidential Debate (SPD) aims to strengthening the growth of Somaliland’s democratic process by encouraging and supporting the dissemination and discussion of political views and the National Political Parties’ election manifestos in an open and unbiased manner so as to enable the Somaliland electorate to make informed decisions for voting. Specific objectives include:
INTRODUCTION
Somaliland Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Debates (SPED) facilitate the examination of issues that are of interest to an electorate. SPED became 1st Somaliland Presidential Debates, the 7th Presidential Debate in Africa and the 85th Presidential Debate in the world. Unlike political rallies, Somaliland Presidential constitute a platform for candidates seeking public office to address issues so that viewers and listeners are better able to compare positions. Unlike political rallies too, candidates had a less room to distort the positions of their opponents as these Opponents have the opportunity to challenge any perceived inaccuracies on the spot.
Somaliland Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Debates also encouraged candidates to focus on details. The time constraints of formal debates and the specificity of direct questions, arguably lead participants to hone their messages carefully, and reduce the opportunities for loose, inconclusive exchanges.
A primary objective of Inspire Group since its formation in 2016 has been the encouragement of a culture of civility and a culture of debate in Somaliland political process. Regrettably, both inside and outside of Somaliland, exchanges have too often been characterized by personal attacks, dissemination of unsubstantiated rumors, and exaggerations of the records or positions of opponents.
Please find attached a PDF of the Programme.
