Somaliland

The International Republican Institute (IRI) has been active in Somaliland since the fall of 2002, when the Institute conducted a comprehensive political assessment. IRI subsequently began program activities supporting the young democracy. IRI conducted a number of seminars on political party building and campaigning in advance of the April 2003 presidential election, and in preparation for parliamentary elections, held in September 2005. The Institute conducted an assessment of the September 29, 2005, parliamentary elections and produced a report on its findings.

IRI’s current program in Somaliland focuses on supporting the institutional development of Somaliland’s legislature and political parties, promoting consensus on institutionalizing free and fair electoral systems, promoting political party and civil society participation in the electoral process, and supporting the oversight of election administration.

In preparation for elections in Somaliland in 2009, IRI plans to conduct campaign schools to help prepare candidates from minority and marginalized groups to compete in local elections, train party poll watchers and domestic election observers, and host-multi party election and voter education forums, and at the time of the presidential election, field a small international observation team.

Political Party Development

IRI supported the development of political parties in advance of the presidential election held in April 2003. Following the election, IRI hosted a roundtable to discuss post-election issues in Somaliland with panelists Lange Schermerhorn, former U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti and David Shinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, as well as John Prendergast, Co-director of the Africa Program at the International Crisis Group.

In partnership with the Somaliland Journalists’ Association, IRI trained Somaliland's political parties, civil society members and journalists on media communications. Facilitated by Kenyan experts, the sessions focused on the role and responsibilities of the media in a democracy, message development for political parties, effective communication between the parties and the media, and media ethics.

Following the 2005 elections, the Institute supported parties in their efforts to effectively participate in the government process between elections. Through this program, IRI worked with the parties in Somaliland to develop members’ skills in the areas of message development, communications, outreach and mobilization, candidate recruitment, campaign strategies, fundraising, and election laws and regulations.

IRI’s current work with political parties focuses on building the parties’ institutional capacity and increasing internal party democracy. For example, IRI has worked extensively with the parties’ youth and women’s leagues in cooperation with local civil society organizations to help politically empower marginalized groups both within the parties and in Somaliland society. Additionally, IRI has hosted training sessions with party central and executive committee members to help them develop key consensus building and conflict resolution skills, contributing to their ability to resolve recent political crises.

Preparing Parties for Elections

With the announcement that Somaliland would hold parliamentary elections in 2005, IRI began a new program to prepare political parties to compete fairly and effectively in democratic elections. The program began with intensive training and individual consultations with leading members of Somaliland's three parties on campaign planning and management.

In the weeks before Somaliland's September 29, 2005 parliamentary elections, IRI, in collaboration with the War-Torn Societies Project, sponsored and helped to organize party poll-watcher trainings in which nearly 6,000 party agents were prepared to execute their duties on Election Day. This training was conducted at a number of universities across Somaliland.

Following the launch of a new program in late 2007, IRI continues to work with political parties in Somaliland to support their effective participation in future elections. IRI has hosted representatives from Somaliland political parties to observe both the December 2007 general elections in Kenya and the June 2008 Kenyan by-elections.

In addition to preparing political parties for elections, IRI has expanded its program to include support for the participation of traditionally marginalized groups in the election process. IRI encourages political parties to recruit qualified women, youth, people with disabilities, and persons belonging to minority clans to run for political office.

Election Assessment Activities

In 2005, IRI sent a seven-member election assessment team to observe voting in four of Somaliland's six electoral regions. The team managed to visit roughly 10 percent of all polling stations in Somaliland, and issued a comprehensive report on the conduct of the elections.

Looking towards the future, IRI plans to conduct an international election observation mission to observe Somaliland’s next presidential election, currently scheduled for 2009.

Known as the Somaliland Protectorate during almost 80 years of British rule, the Republic of Somaliland gained independence from Britain on June 26, 1960. On July 1, 1960, it joined the former colony of Italian Somalia to form the Republic of Somalia. Civil war broke out in the 1980s under the authoritarian regime of General Siad Barre, which led eventually to the collapse of the Somali Republic. In 1991, Somaliland withdrew from the union with Somalia and declared independence.

Although no countries officially recognize Somaliland as an independent state, determined Somalilanders have rid their region of the violence that continues to plague their former countrymen to the south and developed a nascent democratic system of governance.

After Somaliland broke away from the Republic of Somalia in 1991, a series of national conferences held by the Council of Elders (Guurti) selected Muhammad Ibrahim Egal as President, chose Dahir Rayale Kahin as Vice President, and laid the groundwork for a national constitution. Egal would remain in power until his death in May 2002, when Rayale took office as his successor.

In May 2001, Somaliland held a national referendum in which 97 percent of voters approved the constitution that had been adopted by the government in 1997. This first nationwide election within Somaliland provided implicit support for the territory's independence from Somalia.

Political parties were introduced in August 2000, with the passage of new political party legislation specifying that only the three political organizations that received the most votes in local government elections would be allowed to field candidates in future elections. The three parties that achieved this were the Union of Democrats (UDUB), Rayale’s party; Kulmiye, led by Ahmed Silanyo; and the Party of Justice and Welfare, headed by Faisal Warabe.

Somaliland’s first presidential election took place in April 2003, with incumbent Rayale winning the election by a mere 80 votes. After a series of delays, Somaliland’s first legislative elections finally took place in September 2005. A large group of international observers from more than a dozen countries assessed the elections, and there was near-unanimity among observers that the election, despite some minor flaws and irregularities, reflected the will of Somaliland's people.

When the results became public, it was evident that the ruling UDUB party, while retaining a plurality of seats in Somaliland’s first democratically elected parliament, had fallen short of an outright majority. Within weeks of the election, Somaliland's two opposition parties formed a coalition, proving Somaliland to be a unique case within Africa: a government with a president from one party and a parliament dominated by the opposition.

Although the new legislature moved to increase checks on the extensive powers of the executive following its inauguration, the body has been plagued by power struggles with the president and the Guurti. The new legislators have consistently faced conflict with the executive branch over such matters as the national budget, voter registration, and the time table for upcoming presidential and local elections.

Despite all its successes, Somaliland still faces the challenge of maintaining stability while consolidating its democratic gains in a highly competitive political environment and with an unresolved international status.

Political Overview

Head of Government: President H.E. Dahir Riyale Kahin

Type of Government: presidential-parliamentary democracy

Suffrage: universal, age 18

Program Overview

Focus of Program: political party and legislative strengthening, election monitoring, empowerment of marginalized groups

Funding Source: United States Agency for International Development