Somaliland President urges new president of Somalia to respect Somaliland’s independence

Somaliland President Muse Bihi has today led the country in Celebrating its 18th May independence day. In his speech, President Bihi congratulated the newly elected president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and urged him to respect Somaliland’s independence and treat it as a sovereign state.

In his 18th May speech, Bihi said Somaliland made a mistake when it united with Somalia in 1960 without putting preconditions. He believes the failed unity between Somaliland and Somalia resulted in other Somali states like Djibouti, Somalis in Kenya and Ethiopia to reverse their decision of joining the unity to form the greater Somalia.

He accentuated that one of the founding principles of Somaliland is to advocate regional stability and not to be a threat to any nation. He advised his counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud to not level up the tension between their two states.

Somaliland and Somalia united in 1960 to form the republic of Somalia, but the unity did not last long after Somaliland was dissatisfied with the unity and regained its independence on 18th May 1991.