The breakaway enclave of Somaliland voted for a parliament yesterday, hoping a third democratic poll since 2002 would boost its case for nationhood and prove it is a model of democracy in lawless Somalia.

"I hope this will open the door for recognition," President Dahir Rayale Kahin said as the first of hundreds of thousands of eligible voters began casting ballots in the Horn of Africa territory of 3.5 million people.

"I pray for the election to end in peace and wish my party, as well as my opponents, success."

The contest for 82 seats is the first party-based parliamentary election in the former British Somaliland, which unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991.

Results are expected next week.

Though the territory in northwestern Somalia is relatively peaceful and stable, it has found no takers in the international community for its campaign for recognition as a nation.

"This election is the key for Somaliland to get recognition and join the club of nations," said Feisal Ali Warabe, chairman of the Social and Welfare Party.

Somaliland broke away from Mogadishu after warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged Somalia into anarchy from which it has yet to escape.

Barre ordered the Somaliland capital Hargeisa bombed by mercenary pilots in 1988 to snuff out opposition, killing tens of thousands. Many vowed they would never again be part of greater Somalia when they returned to their ruined city.

African resistance

The quest for recognition faces resistance from many African countries because of the continent's longtime preference for leaving old colonial borders intact to avoid encouraging secessionist movements.

Voting started peacefully in a festive atmosphere in the capital Hargeisa despite the deaths of three people late on Wednesday in a shooting described by locals as non-political.

The three were killed in Burao, 315 kilometers east of Hargeisa, when a supporter of the main opposition Kulmiye party drew a gun and opened fire at fellow opposition supporters in a dispute over fuel, commissioner of police Mohamed Egeh said.

"It was not political but as a result of scramble for fuel," said Kulmiye chairman Ahmed Mohamed Siilanyo.

President Kahin's ruling Unity of Democrats Party (UDUB) is competing against the opposition Kulmiye (Solidarity) party and the Welfare and Justice party. Lawmakers had hitherto been chosen by clans through a process of consultation. The contest follows municipal polls in 2002 and a 2003 presidential poll.

(China Daily September 30, 2005)