Electoral system for national legislature

Daily Sabah, Rethinking electoral process in Somalia, By Hassan Yuusuf Waal [January 07, 2022], accessed 9 February 2022

Afyare Elmi, The Politics of the Electoral System in Somalia: An Assessment, accessed 9 February 2022

“After the president’s assent, the electoral law based on the FPTP system became the law of the land in February 2020. However, it will be challenging to implement the law as there are political, logistical, financial, and security-related impediments to its implementation. The electoral law creates 275 clan-based political districts for the lower house and another 54 based on the 18 administrative regions that the military government left behind. It is a challenge to assign lower-house seats to geographical districts because many clans are dispersed in the country. Additionally, besides the dispute on the interpretation of the pertinent constitutional articles in the senate, many communities have issues with how the military government created the districts and regions. Politically, the creation of 275 clan-based political districts will open a Pandora’s box for the Somali government.”

About 30,000 clan delegates are assigned to choose the 275 members of the lower house. Voting follows a complex indirect model, whereby state legislatures and clan delegates pick lawmakers for the national parliament, who in turn choose the president.