Somaliland: choosing politics over violence

Since breaking away from Somalia in 1991, the people of Somaliland have charted a different path from Somalia away from violent conflict towards constitutional politics. Unrecognised by the international community, political reconstruction in Somaliland has largely been an internal affair. While lack of formal recognition has had its costs, it has also has given Somalilanders the opportunity to craft a system of government rooted in their local culture and values that is appropriate to their needs. For the past decade this has comprised a system of government that fuses traditional forms of social and political organisation with Western-style institutions of government. In December 2002 Somaliland took the first step towards changing this system by holding multi-party elections for district councils. These were followed in April 2003 by presidential elections. This paper describes the process of political transition in Somaliland and the first democratic elections in this region for 33 years.