The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), , it, Partito Socialista Rivoluzionario Somalo was the

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

of the

Somali Democratic Republic The Somali Democratic Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiya Soomaaliyeed; ar, الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية, ; it, Repubblica Democratica Somala) was the name that the socialist military government gave to S ...

from 1976 to 1991.

History

SRSP was created by the military regime of

Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 19 ...

under

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

guidance. A founding congress was held in June 1976. The congress elected a

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

, with Barre as the party general secretary. A five-member

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

, consisting of Barre, Lt. General

Mohammad Ali Samatar Mohamed Ali Samatar ( so, Maxamed Cali Samatar; 1 January 193119 August 2016), also known as Ali Samatar was a Somali politician and lieutenant general. A senior member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, he also served as the Prime Minister o ...

(vice president), Major General Hussein Kulmiye Afrah (2nd vice president), Brig.

Ahmad Sulaymaan Abdullah Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

and Brig.

Ismail Ali Abukor Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

(who was later replaced by Brig.

Ahmad Mahamuud Faarah Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

) was constituted. Party cadres also included prominent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

s such as

Abdi Hashi Abdullahi Abdi Hashim Abdelahi is a politician from Somalia who has been elected twice to serve as Speaker of the Senate of Somalia The Senate of Somalia is the Upper Chamber of the bi-cameral legislature of Somalia. The Senate of Somalia is the upper cham ...

Abdulrahman Aidiid Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...

, Mohamed F. Weyrah and (a well known socialist

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

) and Abukar Sh. M Hussien. During a brief period, prior to the

escalation of conflict Conflict escalation is the process by which conflicts grow in severity or scale over time. That may refer to conflicts between individuals or groups in interpersonal relationships, or it may refer to the escalation of hostilities in a political or ...

with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in 1977, the SRSP developed relations with foreign communist parties, such as the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

(CPSU) and

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED). CPSU initiated a programme of assistance for the SRSP party school. After relations with the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

were ruptured, a group including SRSP CC member broke away to form splinter groups. This was even further accelerated by the failed military coup of April 9, 1978, popularly known as "Nova Aprile". In 1981 dissident factions would emerge as the Democratic Front for Salvation of Somalia. When Barre's regime

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

in 1991, the SRSP dissolved. In the same year the Somali National Front was organized by Barre loyalists.

Ideology

The SRSP was nominally a Marxist–Leninist

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

, but its ideology included elements of Islamic socialism,

scientific socialism Scientific socialism is a term coined in 1840 by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book '' What is Property?'' to mean a society ruled by a scientific government, i.e., one whose sovereignty rests upon reason, rather than sheer will: Thus, in a given ...

Somali nationalism Somali nationalism (Somali: ''Soomaalinimo'') is centered on uniting the Somali people who share a common language, religion, culture and ethnicity, and as such constitute a nation unto themselves. The ideology's earliest manifestations in the medi ...

and

pan-Somalism 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. ...

Organisation

The SRSP was supposed to function as a political force transcending clan lines, but in reality there was little change in political practice. Power was concentrated to three clans. The party developed an intelligence branch, ''Baadhista xisbiga'', which worked parallel to state intelligence and paramilitary groups. At most SRSP had around 20,000 members. The SRSP held its 3rd Congress in November 1986. A major reshuffle of the Central Committee took place.

Role in Somali government

The Seventh Article of the 1979 constitution of the Somali Democratic Republic clarified the role of the SRSP:

Congresses

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Note After the 1979 election, the People's Assembly elected Barre President on 26 January 1980.

People's Assembly elections

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Encyclopædia Britannica
{{Authority control Formerly ruling communist parties Parties of one-party systems Political parties established in 1976 Political parties disestablished in 1991 Defunct political parties in Somalia Communism in Somalia Socialist parties in Somalia Communist parties in Africa Somali nationalism Islamic political parties in Somalia Islamic socialist political parties 1976 establishments in Somalia 1991 disestablishments in Somalia 1970s in Somalia 1980s in Somalia