Tag: Democratization

Somaliland, a self-declared independent state located in the Horn of Africa, has been striving for stability and democratic governance since its separation from Somalia...

The challenges and burdens our people faced during the last three generations, including colonialism, bad governance, massacre by a dictatorial regime, neglect, and being...

Somaliland’s constitutional court made the verdict that political parties should be open six months before the expiration date of their current political parties. Traditionally,...

The independence of British  Somaliland (north) came into being on 26 June 1960. Five days later, Italian Somaliland (south) attained independence. Both north and south merged for irredentism agenda – to unify five different Somali regions under one ethnic umbrella. The merger of the two territories faced legal obstruction. Both sides signed no identical unifying law. Italian Somaliland never passed an act of union drafted by British Somaliland. Instead, it passed a different act named Atto di Unione, which was substantially different from British Somaliland's original marriage act. According to Rajagopal and Carrol (1992), the act of union law did not have legal validity in southern Somalia, and the subsequent but different passed Atto de Unione was legally insufficient. Therefore, the declaration of independence was legally invalid.

Despite 30 years of independence and five peaceful transfers of power, Somaliland has gotten democracy basics wrong. It has had a history of...