The Greater Somalia League (GSL) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
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 ...
that advocated for the establishment of a
Greater Somalia
Greater Somalia ( so, Soomaaliweyn, ar, الصومال الكبرى ''As-Sūmal al-Kubra'') is a concept to unite all ethnic Somalis comprising the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited ...
.
History
The GSL was led by
Haaji Mahammad Husseen. It was formed by dissidents of the
Somali Youth League
The Somali Youth League (SYL) ( so, Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed رابطة الشباب الصومالي, it, Lega dei Giovani Somali or ''Lega Somala della Gioventù''), initially known as the Somali Youth Club (SYC), was the first politi ...
(SYL).
The party was fiercely nationalist and called for the unification of all Somali areas into one state. It charged the Somali Youth League with not wanting the unification of Somalia. Haaji Mahammad Husseen and a group of his followers were arrested after violent protests and put to trial.
The GSL boycotted the 1958 municipal election, charging harassment from the SYL. It also boycotted the later 1959 elections. In 1958,
Halima Godane was elected to Mogadishu's city council, representing the party.
During its existence, the party enjoyed good relations with the
Republican Union in
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Ter ...
.
References
Defunct political parties in Somalia
Somali nationalism
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