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interests by partnering with civil society organizations in local campaigns and projects that
advance that party’s platform and political interests.
Somaliland political parties have very weak party presence in between elections. An observer
of political parties in Somaliland noted during an interview, “[It’s important] to train parties and
try to reinforce or make sure party structures exist outside of Hargeisa, because they get set up
for elections and then they disappear, and everything’s in Hargeisa...I mean, the Somalilanders
understand how to use a party to get elected but they don’t really know what to do with the
party between the election cycle and why it’s important and why it’s valuable.”
Political parties are aware that they need to strengthen their connection with the grassroots
outside of Hargeisa (further detailed in opportunity eight). However, parties are less aware of
the kinds of issue advocacy activities and cooperation with civil society organizations that they
can do to advance their interests outside of formal representative institutions and in between
elections. If parties can work on such productive projects, they will build local awareness of,
and an identity for, the party outside of campaign periods, periods which are often marred by
perceptions of “high politics” and clan politicking.
Moreover, in a truly active, multi-party democracy, political parties and civil society
organizations play intertwined roles. Effective engagement between political parties and civil
society can foster improved citizen participation, government transparency and internal party
democracy, at national and local levels. Civil society serves as aggregators of and outlets for
citizens to make their priorities and interests known, while political parties should represent the
diverse interests of their members, and translate member priorities into policy proposals and
legislative initiatives. Efforts to support political party work with civil society organizations in
between elections will yield economies of scale in terms of results: greater understanding and
improved quality and relevance of projects.
International support for such efforts should recognize the overlap and mutual dependence
between development and politics, and support projects that provide a combination of political
and development assistance. As one international observer noted with regard to the overlap
between politics and development:
Groups that can do development don’t want to be involved in politics, but people
in politics need access to those technical [development] experts. Donor funding
cannot be siloed. One pot for democracy, one pot for health, etc. [Funding]
needs integration on issue sectors, to develop real issue based parties and
platforms.
Support for parties between elections can come in the form of projects that bring local party
offices and local civil society together on joint projects; work with political parties to identify
and advance local interests with local governing structures; consolidate internal structures; and
build cadre capacity.
