2021 Somaliland parliamentary election
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Parliamentary elections were held in
Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...
on 31 May 2021, alongside local district elections. The election was Somaliland's first parliamentary election since
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, and politicians pointed to the election as evidence of its political stability. Three parties – the
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
Somaliland National Party (Waddani), the centre-left
Justice and Welfare Party The Justice and Welfare Party ( so, Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka, UCID; ar, حزب العدالة والتنمية), sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, is the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tends to ...
(UCID), and the ruling party, the liberal
Kulmiye Peace, Unity, and Development Party The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party ( so, Xisbiga Kulmiye Nabad, Midnimo iyo Horumarka; ar, حزب التضامن), also known as simply Kulmiye (), is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud ...
– put forward 246 candidates who competed for 82 seats in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. 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 A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...
. The election was tentatively scheduled and postponed numerous times since the last parliamentary election in 2005. The vote was scheduled for March and then August 2019 before the NEC declared it could not be held that year. After pressure from all three parties in 2020, the NEC agreed to hold an election in May 2021. Preceding the election, many local politicians expressed hope that it may help Somaliland be recognized as a nation by more members of the international community.
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Muse Bihi Abdi Musa Bihi Abdi ( so, Muuse Biixi Cabdi, ar, موسى بيحي عبدي) (born 1948 in Hargeisa, British Somaliland, now Somaliland) is a Somaliland politician and former military officer who has been President of Somaliland since December 2017. ...
and opposition leader
Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi ( so, Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Cabdillaahi Cirro, ar, عبد الرحمن محمد عبد الله) (born 24 April 1955), also known as Irro, is a Somaliland politician, who served as speaker of Somaliland House of R ...
called for voters to remain peaceful at the polls. The number of polling stations increased by 61 percent from the 2017 presidential election, and 103 international observers came to monitor the polls and ensure election security.


Background

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...
, a
self-declared Self-proclaimed describes a legal title that is recognized by the declaring person but not necessarily by any recognized legal authority. It can be the status of a noble title or the status of a nation. The term is used informally for anyone declari ...
sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
in the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
which declared independence from
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
in 1991, had not held elections to
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
since
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. Unlike Somalia, which has experienced three decades of civil war, Somaliland has largely maintained peace. The parliamentary election had been consistently delayed since 2005. In 2015, Somaliland was supposed to hold a joint presidential and parliamentary election; both were postponed following drought and political controversies. Delays in voter registration, caused by droughts forcing pastoralists to migrate, caused a tentative date of March 2017 to be pushed back as well. Negotiations between all three political parties and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) led to the scheduling of the 2017 presidential election, which proceeded as planned, and a parliamentary election in April 2019. The election was delayed and rescheduled for August 2019, when it was also delayed. On 12 July 2020, Somaliland's three national political parties reached an agreement to hold parliamentary and local elections by the end of the year. After several weeks of negotiations with the NEC on the practicality of organizing elections in that time, a revised date of May 2021 was settled upon. Local politicians called the election evidence of Somaliland's stability, and expressed hope that a successful democratic election would potentially increase Somaliland's international recognition. Ahmed Dheere, the vice-chairman of the ruling
Kulmiye Peace, Unity, and Development Party The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party ( so, Xisbiga Kulmiye Nabad, Midnimo iyo Horumarka; ar, حزب التضامن), also known as simply Kulmiye (), is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud ...
, told reporters "I cannot tell you how important these elections are. We will be the sunshine of the Horn of Africa if we have successful polls". Mark Bradbury, director of the
Rift Valley Institute The Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is an independent, non-profit research and training organisation working with communities and institutions in Eastern Africa, including Sudan, South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region. Established ...
, said that "Somaliland could well end up as the only place in the Horn of Africa that has any form of democratic election at all this year". Both
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Muse Bihi Abdi Musa Bihi Abdi ( so, Muuse Biixi Cabdi, ar, موسى بيحي عبدي) (born 1948 in Hargeisa, British Somaliland, now Somaliland) is a Somaliland politician and former military officer who has been President of Somaliland since December 2017. ...
and opposition leader
Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi ( so, Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed Cabdillaahi Cirro, ar, عبد الرحمن محمد عبد الله) (born 24 April 1955), also known as Irro, is a Somaliland politician, who served as speaker of Somaliland House of R ...
called for peace from voters. Before the election, the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
had no members of minority clans and only one woman. In 2021, one member of a minority clan and 13 women ran for office. However, none of the women were elected. Five opposition candidates were arrested before the election, and several journalists were detained. Some politicians criticized the government for perpetually delayed elections and criticized the unelected
House of Elders House of Elders could refer to: * House of Elders (Afghanistan) * House of Elders (Somaliland) See also * Elder (disambiguation) An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administra ...
, calling both corrupt and undemocratic. According to activist Ayan Mahamoud, "the two most pressing issues are rights of minority groups such as
Gaboye The Madhiban ('), also known as Gaboye, They are also referred to as Midgaan, an appellation which is sometimes used pejoratively. The Madhiban have been one of the low status castes among the Somalis, along with Tumal and others. Distribution ...
communities and women".
Waddani The Somaliland National Party ( so, Xisbiga Waddani, lit=Patriotic 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 Ab ...
, the major opposition party, made the promotion of women and minorities in society a key issue. The party, aligned with the
left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
economically but socially tied to
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
and
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, included in its party manifesto a
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
of women comprising 30 percent of the parliament.
Kulmiye The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party ( so, Xisbiga Kulmiye Nabad, Midnimo iyo Horumarka; ar, حزب التضامن), also known as simply Kulmiye (), is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud ...
, an observer party of the
Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...
, has historically sought the establishment of a
market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
but more recently has called for the
nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of some companies and a
welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
program funded by a
wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...
. Kulmiye was seen as the
front-runner In politics, a front-runner (also spelled frontrunner or front runner) is a leader in an electoral race. While the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept) is generally clear, a political front-runner, particularly i ...
ahead of the election.
UCID The Justice and Welfare Party ( so, Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka, UCID; ar, حزب العدالة والتنمية), sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, is the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tends to ...
, an observer party of the
Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...
, supports
social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
positions.


Electoral system

The 82 MPs in the lower
House of Representatives of Somaliland The House of Representatives ( so, Golaha Wakiilada, ar, مجلس النواب) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Somaliland, with the House of Elders being the upper house. The interim House of Representatives was form ...
are elected in six multi-member
constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
coterminous with the
regions of Somaliland The regions of Somaliland ( so, Gobolada Somaliland; ar, محافظات صوماليلاند) is divided into six administrative regions, Awdal, Sahil, Maroodi-Jeeh, Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool. These are in turn subdivided into twenty-two ...
, using
open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
for a five-year term. There is a constitutional limit of three legal political parties at the national level. Residents aged 15 or older are able to vote. The election was the first in Somaliland's history to be supervised by an independent organisation rather than by the president.


Conduct

1,065,847 people registered to vote in the parliamentary election, a record for Somaliland. 246 candidates vied for 82 seats. Polls opened at 7 a.m. on 31 May. Like the 2017 presidential election, the parliamentary election used
iris recognition Iris recognition is an automated method of biometric identification that uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques on video images of one or both of the irises of an individual's eyes, whose complex patterns are unique, stable, and can b ...
technology; the 2017 election marked the first time such technology was used for a national election. The 2021 election had 2,709 polling stations, an increase of 61 percent from 2017, with more than 30,000 people staffing the polls. International
election observers Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...
were given broad power by the government to monitor. 103 observers came, including former
President of Sierra Leone The president of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. As the head of the executive branch of the Sierra Leone government, the presi ...
Ernest Bai Koroma Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leone, Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent mo ...
, Kenyan journalist and anti-corruption activist
John Githongo John Githongo (born 1965) is a former Kenyan journalist who investigated bribery and fraud in his home country (Kenya) and later, under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, took on an official governmental position to fight corruption. In 2005 he lef ...
, and South African analyst Greg Mills. Somaliland, one of the world's poorest nations with a government budget of $339 million, paid for 70 percent of the election's $21.8 million cost; the rest was funded by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. Ambassadors from 10 European nations and a European Union ambassador came to the city of
Hargeisa Hargeisa (; so, Hargeysa, ar, هرجيسا) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protector ...
to show support for the election.


Results

Official results of the election took about a week to be announced. The NEC released provisional results of five electoral districts –
Garadag Garadag ( so, Gar Adag, ) is a key town in the Sanaag region of Somaliland. Overview Garadag was founded in 1934 and is located northwest of Xudun and east by road from War Idaad. One of the main Landmarks of the town is "Geedka Garadag", a fam ...
, Hudun,
Lughaya Lughaya ( ar, لوغهيا) is a small coastal town in the northwestern Awdal region of Somaliland. Demographics The broader Lughaya District has a total population of 101,104 residents. The town is mainly inhabited by the Mahad 'Ase subclan o ...
, Salahlay and
Zeila Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bibli ...
– on 2 June. In those districts, Kulmiye received 24 seats, Waddani received 15, and UCID received 10. The
NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
warned government officials and political parties against speculating on election results while counting was still underway. On 6 June, the NEC published the final results, announcing that Waddani had received 31 seats, Kulmiye had received 30 seats, and UCID had received 21 seats. In a joint statement, Waddani and UCID announced they would form a governing coalition. Waddani and UCID also won a majority of seats together in the
municipal elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
. Of the 13 female candidates, none were elected to a parliamentary seat.


By region


Aftermath

Following the election, the British Embassy in Mogadishu published a joint statement of the United Kingdom, the European Union, and several European nations congratulating Somaliland on the elections, which they said "demonstrated a strong commitment to the electoral process, to political participation and to strengthening democracy." Michelle D. Gavin of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
praised Somaliland for the election, saying "Somaliland is not perfect; no place on earth is. But in the midst of regional crisis and global democratic backsliding, Somaliland's achievements and dogged commitment to its principles deserve more notice. Somaliland stands as a rebuke to those who claim that authoritarianism is simply the required price of stability in the region, or that democratic principles are a fetish of foreigners with no real traction on the ground."


References


Further reading

* {{Portal bar, Politics, Somaliland
Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...
Parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
Elections in Somaliland
Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results