House of Representatives (Somaliland)

House of Representatives

Golaha Wakiilada
مجلس النواب

Majlis al-Nuwaab
5th House of Representatives
Type
Type
History
Founded1991[1]
Leadership
Speaker
Yasin Haji Mohamoud, Kulmiye
since 23 July 2023
Structure
Seats82 members
Political groups
Majority (52)[2]
  •   Waddani (31)
  •   UCID (21)

Minority (30)[2]

Length of term
5 years
Elections
Open list proportional representation (regions as constituencies, three party maximum)
Last election
31 May 2021
Next election
2026
Meeting place
Hargeisa
Website
somalilandparliament.net
Footnotes
House of Representatives on Facebook

The House of Representatives (Somali: Golaha Wakiilada, Arabic: مجلس النواب) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Somaliland, with the House of Elders being the upper house.

The interim House of Representatives was formed in 1991, and driven by Somali National Movement.[1] Somaliland National Charter of 1993 established bicameral legislature.[3] The current House of Representatives was formed following parliamentary elections held on 29 September 2005, which resulted in a strong combined majority for the opposition Kulmiye and UCID parties. It has a total of 82 members. The latter include the Speaker of the House, Bashe Mohamed Farah.[4] MPs are elected in six multi-member constituencies, using the party-list proportional representation system for a five-year term.

The constitution gives the House broad legislative powers over financial matters. Its most potent check on executive power is its right to approve, reject, or amend the government's annual budget and the right to inspect annual expenditure reports that the executive is obligated to prepare.[5] The formation of the parliament in 2005 was the most important step in establishing a constitutionally-based, democratic governmental system in Somaliland.[6]

  1. ^ a b "History". January 8, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Somaliland Opposition Joins Forces to Grab Control of Parliament". Agence France-Presse. Voice of America. 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  3. ^ "Somaliland International Democratization Support Strategy".
  4. ^ "Bashe Mohamed Farah elected Speaker of Somaliland's House of Representatives". The National Somaliland. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ Chris Albin-Lackey. "Hostages to Peace" Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland" (PDF). Human Rights Watch.
  6. ^ Adan Yusuf Abokor, Steve Kibble, Mark Bradbury, Haroon Ahmed Yusuf, Georgina Barrett. "Further steps to democracy" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)