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Rumors
abound as Jamaal goes AWOL on UCID last day of campaigning
Today was the last day of campaigning for UCID and the only
opportunity left for making a lasting impression on voters.
Politicians cherish this chance and often chose their strong hold
for this last stand
Today Jamaal was no where to be found.
Feysal was the only UCID headliner in Hargeysa to deliver the usual
non sensical UCID stump speech. According to UCID, Ethiopians with a
go od command of Somali would vote and Wadani and Kulmiye are
crypto- Somaliweyn ou tfi ts.
Abdirashid Xasan Matan was firing
up the crowd in Borama
Meanwhile, Jamaal absence is feeding a media frenzy and rumors are
swirling around abou t why he decided to go AWOL on this all
important day. It is true that after this fiery spee ch last week
when he threatened bloody war if he was
to lose and after his childish spat with
Jamhuuriya, most expected him to show up and make amend with
the Somaliland peo ple. So why was Jamaal out
of sight today on the campaign trail?
Irreconcilable differences with Feysal seem to be the
likeliest explanation because accordi ng to reliable sources, Jamaal
did not pay the last installment of the money he was due to give
Feysal in order to become UCID presidential candidate. Jamaal
refusal to pay up the a greed on money prompted Feysal to deny him
speech time on the highly sought after Harg eisa Kheyriya tribune.
These
sources indicate that Jamaal has all
but conceded defeat and is about to
cross to Kulmiye and use
his remain financial means
to mount a campaign against
Muse Biihi in ord er to become
Kulmiye official candidate.
Other scenarios have him negociating a high profile
ambassador posting with
Fowzia Yusuf Haji Adan with whom Jamaal
has a good personal and professional relationship dating back more
than a decade.
In any rate, Jamaal train wreck came to a
scratching halt and many are left wondering wh at could have
been. What could have been if Jamaal did create his own political
organizati on instead of buying out existing ones, thus avoiding all
the corruption and controversies he was involved in? What could have
been if he did run exclusively on tribalism and if he fr eed himself
from his clannish cohort? What could have been
Fathiya Cumar
fathiyacumar@yahoo.ca
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