Elections in Somalia

Somalia is a country in transition. "De facto" the state has been in anarchy since 1991 with only loose governmental structures. Political parties organized based strictly or primarily on political beliefs don't play much of a role; instead, there is a strong sense of ethnic identity and clan-based organization.

There are not general elections by the populace. The interim Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) of 275 members was selected in 2004, with each of Somalia's four major clans getting 61 seats in the parliament, and an alliance of minority clans given 31 seats. These seats were selected by traditional clan leaders, such as in shura councils, or were chosen for their office because they were powerful "de facto" leaders such as warlords or businessmen. Once appointed, the Parliament then voted, as a representative body for Somalia, to elect President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Somalia therefore is a representative democracy and technically a republic, but has not yet held any general elections.

Many of the present political parties are, or until recently also were militia groups often aligned with clan structures or were supporters of warlords, and often violently active in the Somali Civil War, such as two factions of the United Somali Congress (USC), the Somali National Movement (SNM), the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM). Women were represented by the "Sixth Clan" movement of Asha Haji Elmi. Some agenda-based (rather than clan-based) political movements also exist, such as Green Leaf for Democracy (GLED). Since the Somali government recently gained control of the country, general elections are likely to be held soon.

Past elections

ee also

* Electoral calendar
* Electoral system

External links

* [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/s/somalia/ Adam Carr's Election Archive]
* [http://africanelections.tripod.com/so.html African Elections Database]