Osman contrasted corrupt municipal elections with the clean wartime parliamentary election.

Evidence

Corruption and the electoral manipulation of municipal elections represented a future in which state affairs would be managed for the benefit of those few who controlled the levers of power. In contrast, the relatively clean parliamentary election, which Osman doggedly fought for in the midst of war, signaled a different political future in which state power would be deployed for the common good. The president clearly understood that the second republic required a fresh initiative to realize the democratic values embedded in the constitution and to reverse the use of public power for private gain. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 693

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the stated reading purpose’s interest in why the democratic experiment ultimately failed and the elite division that foreshadowed it.