Somalilandportal |
This is a list of presidents of the Republic of Somaliland, a de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, considered internationally to be part of Somalia. The Republic of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of Somaliland. [1] [2] The President of Somaliland is the head of state and head of government of Somaliland. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Somaliland and is the commander-in-chief of the Somaliland Armed Forces. The official residence of the president is the Presidential Palace in Hargeisa.
† Died in office
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur (1931–2003) | 1991 | 28 May 1991 | 16 May 1993 | 1 year, 353 days | SNM | |
2 | Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal (1928–2002) | 1993 1997 | 16 May 1993 | 3 May 2002 [†] | 8 years, 352 days | Independent | |
(2) | UDUB | ||||||
3 | Dahir Riyale Kahin (born 1952) | 2003 | 3 May 2002 | 27 July 2010 | 8 years, 85 days | UDUB | |
4 | Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (born 1936) | 2010 | 27 July 2010 | 13 December 2017 | 7 years, 139 days | Kulmiye | |
5 | Muse Bihi Abdi (born 1948) | 2017 | 13 December 2017 | Incumbent | 5 years, 176 days | Kulmiye |
On 21 November 2017 the NEC announced that Muse Bihi Abdi of the ruling Kulmiye party polled 55.1% of votes to emerge winner. His closest contender was Abdirahman Irro of the Waddani party who polled 40.7% with Faysal Ali Warabe finishing last with 4.2% of votes. [3]
Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Muse Bihi Abdi | Abdirahman Saylici | Peace, Unity, and Development Party | 305,909 | 55.10 | |
Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi | Mohamed Ali | Waddani | 226,092 | 40.73 | |
Faysal Ali Warabe | Abdi Ahmed Musa Abyan | For Justice and Development | 23,141 | 4.17 | |
Total | 555,142 | 100.00 | |||
Valid votes | 555,142 | 98.15 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 10,475 | 1.85 | |||
Total votes | 565,617 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 704,198 | 80.32 | |||
Source: SLNEC |
Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. It is 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 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which, as the briefly independent State of Somaliland, united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
The president of Somaliland is the head of state and head of government of Somaliland. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somaliland Armed Forces. The president represents the Government of Somaliland.
The Somali Republic was the name given to the newly independent state of Somalia, following the unification 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 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.
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The State of Somaliland was a short-lived independent country in the territory of present-day unilaterally declared Republic of Somaliland. It existed on the territory of former British Somaliland for five days between 26 June 1960 and 1 July 1960, when it merged with the formerly Italian administered Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
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The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to Somaliland:
Presidential elections were held in Somaliland on 13 November 2017, the third direct presidential election since 2003. General elections had been scheduled to be held in Somaliland on 27 March 2017 to elect both the President and House of Representatives, but were initially postponed by six months due to the drought condition in the region. The elections to elect the President and Vice President were eventually held separately on 13 November. Incumbent President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud of the Peace, Unity, and Development Party (Kulmiye) did not run for a second term.
Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, also known as Irro, is a Somaliland politician, who served as speaker of Somaliland House of Representatives of the first-elected parliament. He was elected to the position in November 2005 and served until August 2017. Abdullahi also previously co-founded the Justice and Welfare (UCID) party. He is likewise the founder and chairman of the Waddani party. He belongs to the Abukar Logeh branch of the Musa Abdallah subclan of the Habr Yunis.
The Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia is the supreme law of Somalia. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the Federal Republic and source of legal authority. It sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of government. The Provisional Constitution was adopted on August 1, 2012 by a National Constitutional Assembly in Mogadishu, Banaadir.
Musa Bihi Abdi is a Somaliland politician and former military officer who has been President of Somaliland since December 2017. During the 1970s, he served as a pilot in the Somali Air Force under the Siad Barre administration. In 2010, Bihi was appointed the chairman of the ruling Kulmiye of Republic of Somaliland. In November 2015, Bihi was selected as the party's Presidential Candidate at the 5th annual central committee convention.
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.
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The Government 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.