RE: SOMALILAND OPINION SURVEY-HARGEISA DISTRICT
The mission statement of the International Republican Institute
reads: “A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, IRI advances freedom
and democracy worldwide by developing political parties, civic
institutions, open elections, democratic governance and the rule of
law.” On face value, it is a nob le mission and it encapsulates the
aspirations of those societies struggling to break off the shack les
of totalitarianism; the dream of all nascent democracies in a
utopian world.
As an institution engaged in the advancement of freedom and
democracy via grass roots partici pation in the political process,
good governance, the rule law, and the fundamental rights of the
individual, the International Republican Institute should be
cognizant that these lofty ideals are s ubject to modifications to
adapt to the cultural norms of the intended beneficiaries.
Having stated that, I would like to make a few comments on the above
mentioned opinion survey:
Between September28th – October 8th 2011, the local outfit of the
International Republican Inst itute conducted what it called
“Somaliland Opinion Survey-Hargeisa District” to gauge the political
pulse of the nation and conversely the approval rating of the
current Somaliland government.
At first glance, the title is misleading, and therefore, it defeats
the intended purpose of the surve y. The public opinion of the
general population in the Capital region and its environs is not a
true reflection of the national mood by any stretch of the
imagination. The population of Hargeisa regi on constitutes a mere
40%-45%. The other 55%-60% live in the other FIVE regions of
Somaliland. The analysis of this unrepresentative sample of the
population can neither be conclusive nor can it be extrapolated to
reflect the rest of the country.
In this endeavour, we can surmise that the International Republican
Institute is acting as a hired Public Relations firm on behalf of
the government of Somaliland.
The interpretation of the results of a survey whose information
gathering methodology is not up to the universally accepted
guidelines of opinion polls, leads to faulty conclusions.
The pollsters presented us a mixed survey- a jurisdictional mix up
of two levels of government. Some parts of the questionnaire deal
with the Municipal Level, while other parts deal with the Na tional
government. A margin of error of +/- 4% requires a random sample
size of 1000 individuals at the conventional 95% level confidence; a
margin of error of +/- 1% may require a population sample of 10,000
persons; cost and time constraints prohibit that kind of survey in
Somalia. However, to lend the survey some semblance of nationwide
credibility, a sample of 1200 distribu ted among the six regions on
the basis of the demographics of the previous election results,
wou ld have given completely different picture.
It is an established fact in opinion polls that wording of the
question is one of the major sources of bias: The order of the
questions, the number of times the same question with a different
set of answers is repeated, etc influences the outcome of the poll.
In the section of the survey on the Government’s ability to provide
services, let us evaluate the possible effect of question wording on
the probable responses:
“I am going to read to you a list of things that the government
could try to do. For each one, ple ase tell me whether you think it
is a very high priority, a priority, a low priority or not a
priority at all. Please keep in mind that there is not enough money
for the government to do everything at once.”
The sentence “Please keep in mind that there is not enough money for
the government to do eve rything at once” renders the whole survey
completely irrelevant and hence, all conclusions based on these
results are deemed inconsequential.
Granted that the team at the helm of the International Republic
Institute is well aware of the fact that the cascading Clan card
stifled the morphing of sense of nationalism in the African
continent, why the CLAN affiliation is factored into the
respondent’s demographic information in this survey? Isn’t this
contrary to the letter and the spirit of the mission statement of
the Institute? The inclu sion of the Clan element in the survey is
not by accident; it is a deliberate attempt to erase the
achievements of Somaliland.
For the past eleven years, the regional governments imposed on
Southern Somalia an unworkable power sharing formula based on 4.5
clans. The net result has been: a failed state, a fragmented and
disintegrated society uncontrollably spiraling towards oblivion. I
hope the objectives of the architects of this pseudo-survey are of a
different mindset..
Ahmed Ali Ibrahim Sabeyse
November 24th 2011. |
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