Osman refused to buy votes even knowing it would cost him the presidential election.

Evidence

As the day of reckoning approached, streams of delegates from parliament as well as from the region saw Osman, offering him their support. The president thanked them but kept aloof, not certain about some of the visitors’ integrity. Hussen and his team were hopeful, but Osman realistically calculated that he was unlikely to win since he was not willing to play by corrupt means. One of the issues that vexed Osman was not only the money that many MPs demanded but the compromising political deals his opponent had engaged in. A key factor in this was the promise Sharmarkee made to Egal regarding the prime minister position. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 931

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of Somali political corruption and vote-buying that recurs through this book.

Related

• Osman refused vote-buying even when it cost him the 1967 presidency (similarity 0.92)
• Somali deputies for decades broke promises of support in parliamentary votes. (similarity 0.86)
• Somali deputies habitually broke voting promises in presidential elections. (similarity 0.86)
• Osman expected to lose because he refused to pay MPs (similarity 0.86)
• Somalia’s 1967 presidential vote was decided by vote-buying rather than platforms (similarity 0.85)
• Osman’s disinterest in power let him trust even those who betrayed him (similarity 0.85)
• Osman compared Somali politics to a brothel where everything was for sale. (similarity 0.84)
• Somalia’s first president saw rampant corruption among its MPs (similarity 0.84)
• Osman refused to bribe MPs even while his opponents did. (similarity 0.84)
• Sharmarkee obtained Eastern Bloc funds to buy MPs’ votes (similarity 0.84)
• Osman’s refusal of bribes distinguished him from post-colonial politicians. (similarity 0.83)
• Somali presidential elections were openly bought with party funds from foreign sources (similarity 0.83)
• Osman refused to campaign personally, leaving his fate to parliament (similarity 0.82)
• Vote-buying shaped the 1967 presidential election (similarity 0.81)
• The 1964 parliament election was judged the fairest in Somali history (similarity 0.81)