The Root causes of Somaliland Political Argument Exactly twenty years ago, Somaliland conducted in 2002, the first one person one vote election since it declared the restoration of independence in 1991. After the approval of a constitution in 2001, Somalilanders lined up to vote for local councils for their districts on 15 December 2002. Less than six months later, a presidential election was competed on 14 April 2003. The then incumbent won by a narrow margin of fewer than three hundred votes. In November 2005, the first parliamentary election took place where 82 members of the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the House of Representatives, were elected from all the six regions of Somaliland. 5 The opposition parties gained the majority of the House. The first cycle of Somaliland’s democratization process was a success story. The second phase of the election cycle, however, faced challenges. When the term of the local councils expired in 2007, their term was exten
Political , Security and Diplomatic Analyzer In Horn Africa and Beyond.