Parliamentary elections were held in

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

on 29 September 2005. They were the first multiparty parliamentary election conducted in the country.

Electoral system

The 82 members of the House of Representatives were elected by

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 Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

with the six multi-member constituencies based on the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The number of seats for each region was based on those used for the 1960 elections and multiplied by 2.5.International Republican Institute: Somaliland September 29, 2005 Parliamentary Election Assessment Report
IRI

Campaign

At the time of the elections, the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

limited the number of political parties to three: *

Peace, Unity, and Development Party The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party (; ), also known as simply Kulmiye (), is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" in May 2002, ahead of the first 2002 Somal ...

(Kulmiye) led by

Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (, ; 1 June 1938 – 15 November 2024), known by his nickname Silanyo (), was a Somaliland politician who served as the President of Somaliland from 2010 to 2017. During the 1980s, he also served as the Chairman of the ...

, the former

President of Somaliland The president of the Republic of Somaliland (; ) is the head of state and head of government of Somaliland. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somaliland Armed Forces. The president represents the Government of Somaliland. The f ...

For Justice and Development The Justice and Welfare Party (, UCID; ), sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, and also known as For Justice and Development, was the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tended to be supported by people from th ...

(''Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka'', UCID) led by

Faysal Ali Warabe Faysal Ali Warabe ( ; , ; born 1948), also spelled Faisal Ali Warabe, is a Somaliland engineer and politician. He previously served as Director of Planning and Building as well as Regional Director of Somalia's Ministry of Public Works. Additiona ...

United Peoples' Democratic Party The United Peoples' Democratic Party (), shortened UDUB, was one of the three political parties in Somaliland. It was founded by president Egal in July 2001 in the preparation of the elections, which were originally scheduled for December 2001 ...

(''Ururka dimuqraadiga ummadda bahawday'', UDUB) led by

Dahir Riyale Kahin Dahir Riyale Kahin (, ; born 12 March 1952) is a Somaliland politician who was President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. He previously served as a senior officer in the National Security Service in Somalia, and he was Vice President of Somal ...

, the former

A total of 246 candidates contested the elections, including five women.

Conduct

A team of 76 observers from

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Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

monitored the polls. They described that the elections were conducted in a peaceful condition and were generally free and fair, nonetheless, the vote had fallen short of meeting several international standards.

Results

References

{{Somaliland elections

Elections in Somaliland 2005 in Somaliland