107
in 1997 when the biggest clan assembly in Hargeisa that clans…decided to shift
from the clan based system to multi-party system.
To encourage the development of a more national political agenda and reduce the prevalence of
clan identity in national politics, the legal framework requires that to qualify as a national party,
a political association or existing party must achieve, during local council elections, at least 20
percent of the vote in all six regions of Somaliland. In addition, according to the constitution,
parties cannot be based on religion, regionalism or kinship.
In reality, however political parties are dominated by clan interests, particularly during electoral
periods, and leadership and candidate positions are shaped by, and reflect, clan politics. Peter
Pham of the Atlantic Council notes, “Unlike the southern regions of Somalia, the territory
[Somaliland] is dominated by a single clan and the political party system remains a thin veneer
over traditional sub-clan politicking.”
159
Of the 2002 elections, Mark Bradbury noted that: “The
requirement to demonstrate support in all regions forced them [political parties] to construct
cross-clan alliances.”
160
In a 2010 report concerning the Somaliland peace process and political reconstruction, in
reference to the transition from a clan system based on consensus to a winner-take-all political
system, it was noted that:
Severe structural resistance from within Somaliland’s traditional clan society
demanded a highly flexible democratic system. Political parties, the National
Electoral Commission, candidate nomination procedures, the election system
itself, voter registration and other formal institutions all needed to accommodate
a vast array of social and political forces. This left little room to transform
government bodies into effective, stable, formal and professional institutions.
161
The legal framework makes little correction for the political influence of clans. In a 2010 report
by Interpeace and the Academy for Peace and Development, its authors note:
Apart from the few articles in the
Party Formation Law
(Law No. 14), and other
constitutional promulgations ensuring political freedom and expression,
regulatory laws determining political parties behavior in fundraising, clan
outlook and lifespan as well as other determinations qualifying accountability,
transparency and ethics are absent. On the contrary, rather than creating an
enabling environment that ensures the democratic values of fair play and free
expression, the political parties as well as the democratic processes have
exacerbated clan-induced grievances and imbalances.
162
159
Pham, J. Peter. "The Somaliland Exception: Lessons on Postconflict State Building from the Part of the
Former Somalia That Works."
Marine Corps University Journal
3.1 (2012): 1-33. Print.
160
Bradbury, Mark.
Becoming Somaliland
. Oxford: James Currey, 2008. Print, p. 185.
161
Somaliland: ‘home grown’ peacemaking and political reconstruction by Mohammed Hassan Ibrahim and Ulf
Terlinden; pg. 78. Accord Issue 21_24 [
]
162
A Vote for Peace II: A Report on the 2010 Somaliland Presidential Election Process
. Rep. Hargeisa: Academy
for Peace and Development/Interpeace, 2012. Print, p. 74.
