ARTA — The tiny, mountainous town of Arta 30 km south of the Djibouti capital has been transformed into a small piece of Somalia gripped by election fever. Banners in blue and white, the colours of the Somali national flag, fly the slogans of the presidential hopefuls along dusty roads leading to a huge military conference tent.
In the nearby tea shops and kiosks, hundreds of Somalis flown in by the Djibouti government, haggle and bargain over their country's future prospects following a decade of civil war and anarchy, a decade in which there has been no central government. They have been here since 2 May when the conference initiated by President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti - and said to have cost an estimated US $5 million - formally started. After a difficult start, the delegates finally agreed to the formation of an interim parliament, the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), to which they elected 245 members.
On Friday, TNA members started voting for a new national president in a process which conference sources said could last all night. "On the road to victory" or "New generation pioneer" are two examples of the banners that reflect new hopes for the shattered nation. Loudspeaker systems have been set up so that supporters can hear the presidential candidates explain what solutions they would bring. And the speeches have been televised live to people back home in Somalia.
"They have taken over the town," said an Arta resident. "Peace or no peace, it is time they left."
Last Sunday, Djbiouti soldiers at the entrance of the conference tent stepped up security, allowing inside only members of the TNA and the handful of international observers. The enthusiastic Somali bystanders brought in for the early sessions of the conference are turned away. Indeed, the venue, is treated more like a government building than a peace tent.
Abdullahi Deroow Issak, who was elected speaker of the TNA this week, is being treated as "acting president" with all the protocol formalities in sharp contrast to the early days of the peace talks, sometimes reduced to fist and stick fights, which eventually forged cross-clan agreements and gave rise to the TNA as an effective voting mechanism.
Voting papers are dropped into the transparent glass boxes on the front podium in sessions that have lasted well into the night. 'Spoiler' candidates and dissident 'walk-outs' have publicly withdrawn in recent days, many of them citing the need to bring peace to Somalia. Their actions drew loud applause. One presidential candidate said during a five-minute speech that a man who had signed his death warrant "is sitting right here in the tent and I forgive him".
Deroow has come to symbolise the prevailing sense of goodwill. Over a generous lunch of roast goat and pasta with an IRIN reporter his simple and hospitable manner clearly belied his steely political will. During the conference he twice out-manouvered the miitary leader of the faction of which he is secretary general, the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA). He won overwhelming cross-clan support during the election, and has since welcomed back the supporters and sub-clan members of his rival, Hassan Mohamed Nur 'Shatigudud'.
A former college lecturer, he laughed when he explained how he came to Arta with his men and initially refused to share accomodation with other Somalis. Things have changed, he insisted. After his election - which signalled the start of days and nights surrounded by his supporters and well- wishers - he said he retreated to his villa accomodation to think about what had come to pass: "The confidence Somalis placed in me overwhelmed me. They had voted for me without receiving money, or without regard for clan."
As he races around Arta in his official car, he frequently orders the driver to a screeching stop. "I must talk to this sultan," he explained. "We had bad words last week".
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Many people were up into the early hours on Friday morning, preparing for the historic election they say will finally resolve the Somali crisis. And they are dismissive of outside criticism: "We know the international community is habitually sceptical about Somali reconciliation efforts, but they will understand later," said one of the delegates. They point to broad clan representation from all Somali regions as "national support" for elections which had to be conducted in such a way as to reflect Somali concerns.
As for the new president of Somalia: "He needs personality and guts. He needs to know how to administer and how to cope in the field. I don't want to pick my own cousins. I want someone who can do the job," said Ahmed 'Shell', a former government official, of the daunting task facing the new head of state.
