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Participants noted that elections were about negotiation among clans rather than competition
among parties, under the guise of national party campaigns. One participant noted, "I think the
major influence is from the clans which still has a role in our community; most of the elections
are based upon the clans and tribes of the community."
A participant from another party workshop noted the influence clans have on internal party
politics:
When there is conflict within the party, if they try to solve on their constitution it
will not happen because the leaders are more powerful, and it will be solved
through the traditional system. For example, we cannot fire anybody from the
party, because tomorrow his elders will come to the party and say “you can’t fire
him.” So he must accept being a member of the party.
When queried as to what parties can do to reduce clan influence in Somaliland politics,
participants had few ideas, though participants from one party noted that it would take time and
were able to identify an example of how the president has made efforts to do so: governors were
moved to areas not of their clan. One participant explained it in the following way, “The
solution will be when the population mature[s] politically, the clan will be eliminated and the
leader cannot do whatever it wants…Now the president, he reshuffled all the governors. The
governor of this region is not from this region. He is trying to reduce the clan.”
Security and Economy
Economic issues were cross-cutting throughout all three political party workshops, though
participants had no specific ideas for how to address the issues to achieve their other goals. In
an interview, one high ranking party official succinctly put it: “Without economy, nothing is
working.” Low economic activity makes it difficult for the parties to raise money from
members, particularly between elections; during elections parties rely on clan affiliations to
raise funds for candidates.
Security was also an underlying theme, though never directly addressed in discussions about
party priorities outside of the enabling environment. Participants disagreed on the level of
security in Somaliland. Overall, most participants agreed that security is a critical factor that
enables peaceful political development. One interviewee noted, "So peace and stability is more
important than elections and democracy, and people are aware that, if there comes a conflict, it
will turn into clan based conflicts, and that is the main reason why peace and stability is the
most important element."
Legal Framework and Institutions
Priorities within the legal framework and legal institutions subcategory focused on correcting
the voter registry, which was cited by all political parties via the workshops and interviews as in
need of reform. As quoted by one participant: "As you are aware, there was a registration of the
voters in the last presidential election, unfortunately it was unsuccessful in the management and
recording, so if the registration is articulate and well executed, so that the person cannot take
two identities from different locations, it will result a free and fair elections to take place.”
Commensurate with the need for a corrected voter registry was the perception, on the part of
two parties, that the government is interfering in independent institutions, in particular, the
