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Somaliland has a multi-party system, with a constitutional limit of three official parties at the national level (determined for a 10-year period at the beginning of each decade based on municipal election results, in which more parties are allowed) as an attempt to avoid political tribalism. A single party often does not have win power alone, so the parties must instead form coalition governments. However, despite some parties having affiliations with political internationals of a particular ideology, politics in Somaliland tend to be more clan-based rather than ideology-based. As such, the programs of parties can fluctuate depending on the issues surrounding the clan(s) that support them.
Party | Abbr. | Est. | Leader | Political position | Ideology | Seats | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Somaliland National Party Somali : Xisbiga Waddani Arabic : واداني | Waddani | 2012 | Hersi Ali Haji Hassan | Syncretic | Nationalism Populism Islamic democracy | 31 / 82 | ||
Kulmiye Peace, Unity, and Development Party Somali : Xisbiga Kulmiye Nabad, Midnimo iyo Horumarka Arabic : حزب التضامن | Kulmiye | 2002 | Muse Bihi | Centre to Centre-left | Social liberalism Islamic democracy | 30 / 82 | ||
Justice and Welfare Party Somali : Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka Arabic : حزب العدالة والتنمية | UCID | 2001 | Faysal Ali Warabe | Centre-left | Democratic socialism Social democracy | 21 / 82 |
Party | Native name | Political position | Ideology | Seats | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(UDUB) United Peoples' Democratic Party | Ururka Dimuqraadiga Ummadda Bahawday | Centre to Centre-left | Nationalism Islamic democracy | 0 / 82 (dissolved in 2011) | ||
(UCID) Justice and Welfare Party | Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka | Centre-left | Democratic socialism Social democracy | 0 / 82 (dissolved in 2024) | ||
Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 6.2 million people as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.
Awdal is an administrative region (gobol) in western Somaliland. It was separated from Woqooyi Galbeed and became a province in 1984 and is the most northwesterly province of Somaliland. To the east it borders Maroodi Jeex and Sahil; to its north-west it borders Djibouti; to its south and south-west lies Ethiopia; and the Gulf of Aden to its north. The province has an estimated population of 1,010,566. The region comprises the four districts of Borama, the regional capital, Baki, Lughaya, and Zeila.
Las Anod is the administrative capital of the Sool region, currently controlled by Khatumo State forces aligned with Somalia.
The Isaaq is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
The Somali Republic was formed by the union of the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the State of Somaliland. A government was formed by Abdullahi Issa Mohamud and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal and other members of the trusteeship and protectorate administrations, with Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf as President of the Somali National Assembly and Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as President of the Somali Republic. On 22 July 1960, Daar appointed Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as prime minister. On 20 July 1961 and through a popular referendum, Somalia ratified a new constitution, which was first drafted in 1960. The new constitution was rejected by Somaliland.
The Dhulbahante is a Somali clan family, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Darod. They are the traditional inhabitants of the physiographic Nugaal in its topographic sense, and its pre-independence administrative sense, which included Doollo. The clan's progenitor is buried at Badweyn.
The Justice and Welfare Party, sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, and also known as For Justice and Development, is the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tends to be supported by people from the Garhajis clan and some sub-clans of the Isaaq.
The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party, also known as simply Kulmiye, is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" in May 2002, ahead of the first municipal elections later that year. The party is mainly supported by people from the Habr Je'lo, Habr Awal and Darod clans.
The politics of Somaliland take place within a hybrid system of governance, which, under the Somaliland constitution, combines traditional and western institutions. The constitution separates government into an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch, each of which functions independently from the others.
Presidential elections were held in Somaliland on 14 April 2003. The result was a victory for incumbent President Dahir Riyale Kahin, who won by a margin of just 0.01%. The outcome was initially rejected by the main opposition, which led to violence and a subsequent ban on public protests for a ten-day period starting on 22 April. Nevertheless, the International Crisis Group labeled the election a democratic "milestone" for the breakaway state. On 11 May the Somaliland Supreme Court endorsed Kahin's victory. He was sworn in on 16 May.
The Somali National Movement was one of the first and most important organized guerilla groups and Mujahideen groups that opposed the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s, as well as being the main anti-government faction during the Somaliland War of Independence. The organisation was founded in London, England, on April 6, 1981 by Hassan Isse Jama, Hassan Adan Wadadid, and Ahmed Mohamed Gulaid and other former Somali diplomats, who stated that initially the group's purpose was to overthrow the Siad Barre regime.
Over the course of the Somali Civil War, there have been many revolutionary movements and militia groups run by competing rebel leaders which have held de facto control over vast areas within Somalia.
The Awal, also contemporarily known as the Habr Awal, Subeer Awal, and alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal is one of the largest subclans of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Isamusa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation.
The Puntland–Somaliland war is a ongoing war over the provinces of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn of Togdheer regions between the self-declared Republic of Somaliland and the Puntland state of Somalia.
The Dervish Movement was an armed resistance movement between 1899 and 1920, which was led by the Salihiyya Sufi Muslim poet and militant leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, also known as Sayyid Mohamed, who called for independence from the British and Italian colonisers and for the defeat of Ethiopian forces. The Dervish movement aimed to remove the British and Italian influence from the region and restore an "Islamic system of governance with a Sufi doctrine as its foundation", according to Mohamed-Rahis Hasan and Salada Robleh.
Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, popularly known as Aw Barkhadle or Yusuf Al Kownayn, was an Islamic scholar and traveler based in Zeila, Somalia. According to Dr. Enrico Cerulli, Yusuf Al Kawneyn is referenced in the Harar manuscripts.
The Somaliland National Party, sometimes referred to as the Waddani National Party and better known by its shortened Somali form Waddani, is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) in 2012, ahead of the second municipal elections later that year. On 16 November 2021 Hersi Ali Haji Hassan was elected as the new chairman of the opposition party.
Parliamentary elections were held in Somaliland on 31 May 2021, alongside local district elections. The election was Somaliland's first parliamentary election since 2005, and politicians pointed to the election as evidence of its political stability. Three parties – the populist Somaliland National Party (Waddani), the centre-left Justice and Welfare Party (UCID), and the ruling party, the liberal Kulmiye Peace, Unity, and Development Party – put forward 246 candidates who competed for 82 seats in the House of Representatives. More than one million people, out of about four million residents total, registered to vote. On 6 June, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced that Waddani had received a plurality of seats with 31; Kulmiye received 30, and UCID received 21. As no party had received an outright majority, Waddani and UCID announced they would form a political alliance.
The Government of the Republic of Somaliland (JSL) is the central government of Somaliland. The Government of Somaliland consists of legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each of which functions independently from the others. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Somaliland, adopted in 2001. It is a unitary state. The seat of the government is located in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.
The Ibran is a major clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. Ibran had two sons, Egale And Yonis. Yonis's son Mohamed have two sons Abdalle, and Essa. Its members form part of the larger Habr Je'lo confederation along with the Muse Sheikh Ishaaq, Sanbuur and Tol Je'lo clans. Politically however, the Ibran are part of the Habr Je'lo.