Somaliland:UK All Party Parliamentary Group in Somaliland (Full Report)

By:Mohamed Duale Chief Editor of Horndiplomat Tweets MohamadDuale

Horndiplomat- on April 4, large UK Parliamentary delegation arrives in Somaliland,The delegation led by MP Stephen Doughty accompanied by MP Matthew Offord ,MP Liz Mcinnes .

The British MPs meets with the Somaliland Vice president ,Political parties,Somaliland parliament,Somaliland National Electoral Commission,civil societies,Somaliland UK Diaspora and Somaliland youths.

Vice President Meeting

On April 5,The Somaliland vice president, HE.Abdirahman Abdilahi Saili receives UK MPs his residence in Hargeisa. The Vice president accompanied by Somaliland foreign minister Dr.Saad Ali Shire and Somaliland Ambassador in UK Ayan Mohamoud Ashour.

The Somaliland vice president commented about the meeting with UK MPs on his Twitter account he says

“Tonight, it was an honor to welcome a delegation of Parliamentarians from UK at my private residence in Hargeisa Somaliland. Hope to strengthen our bilateral relations between Somaliland & United Kingdom”

MPs Meeting with NEC

On April 5, The National Electoral Commission receives Uk’s All Party Parliamentary Group delegation across from all parliamentary group led by MP Stephen Doughty, MP Matthew Offord ,MP  Liz Mcinnes, The MPs accompanied by  Head of British office in Hargeisa Rosie Tapper and Somaliland Ambassador in UK Ayan Mohamoud Ashour.

The meeting discussed by the Presidential Somaliland election,the UK’s support for the elections and the preparation for upcoming Elections.

Somaliland Civil societies meeting

On April 5, The Members of UK parliament met with Somaliland civil society organizations  in Hargeisa.

This meeting was discussed in civil society work on democratization, elections, state- building, peace- building and the current situation of the country especially the way of recognition.

MPs Meeting with Somaliland UK Diaspora

All the Somaliland Diaspora participant was from number of Cities, Cardiff, London,Birmingham, Sheffield and many other cities including Bristol.

The meeting  discussed on by a number of topics in a friendly and professional environment with respect and enjoyable discussion. The Somaliland Diaspora also talked about improving Consulate Services and more engagement with the British Embassy in Addis Ababa and continue to link the British All Party Parliamentary Group for Somaliland. All the participant agreed it was extremely useful meeting and agreed on with such meetings from now and develop supportive structure for those Somaliland who return to Somaliland.

All Party Parliamentary Group  for Somaliland

On 18 October 2016, with cross-party support, Members of the UK Parliament inaugurated a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Somaliland.APPG members MPs Stephen Doughty, Clive Betts and Stephen Timms.

The creation of the new All Party Parliamentary Group is an important milestone in Somaliland’s engagement with the UK Parliament, as it replaces the previous APPG on Somaliland and Somalia with a new body dedicated solely to Somaliland.The APPG aims to highlight Somaliland’s achievements in building a peaceful and democratic state, and to draw attention to its important role in combating terrorism and piracy. It also hopes to build support for the UK’s continued assistance towards Somaliland’s development.

The new APPG is comprised of a coalition of MPs from a wide range of parties and backgrounds whose collective efforts will help in championing the cause of Somaliland. Somaliland hopes the new form will allow its representatives to brief MPS on issues of importance to Somaliland and help improve UK-Somaliland relations.

By:Mohamed Duale Chief Editor of Horndiplomat Tweets MohamadDuale

SOURCE:HORNDIPLOMAT