Somalia’s elite, against all sensible and strategic advice, decided decades ago to make Somaliland an electoral constituency, despite the absence of consent and political settlement on the issues of independence and unity. The aim may have been to use the elections to assert Mogadishu’s sovereignty. In the event, the Somaliland vote in the south has become a perennial catalyst that feeds electoral dysfunction in Somalia. It has also become a powerful magnet for “dissidents” from Hargeisa – a motley collection of unionists, political tourists, interlopers and neophytes - all looking to Mogadishu for posts, perks and prestige