Thepolitics of Somaliatakes place in a framework offederalparliamentaryrepublic.According to the Constitution of Somalia, thePresident of Somaliaishead of state,andPrime Ministerashead of governmentwho is appointed by the President with the parliament's approval.[1]The country has abicamerallegislature,which consists of theSenate(upper house) and the National Assembly of Somalia (lower house). Together, they make up the Federal Parliament of Somalia.[2]In 2012, theFederal Parliament of Somaliawas concurrently inaugurated, ushering in theFederal Government of Somalia,the first permanent central government in the country since the start of thecivil war.[3]With a new constitution and a new parliament representing diverse parties and factions, Somalia's political structure subsequently showed signs of stabilization.[4][5]
Federal Parliament of Somalia
editLegislative branch
editTheFederal Parliament of Somaliais the nationalparliamentof Somalia. Formed in August 2012, it is based in the capital Mogadishu and isbicameral,consisting of anupper housewhich represents federal states and alower house.The Federal Parliament of Somalia elects the President and has the authority to pass andvetolaws,[6]and consists of a 275-seatlower houseas well as anupper housecapped at 54 representatives.[7][8]
Judiciary
editTheConstitutionstates that the judiciary is independent of the legislative and executive branches of government whilst fulfilling its judicial functions. Members of the judiciary shall be subject only to the law.[6]The Somali judicial system is based on Islamic law, Judicial authority of the Federal Republic is vested in the courts. The judiciary is independent of the legislative and executive branches of government whilst fulfilling its judicial functions. It can declarestatutesas null and void if they are in violation of the Federal Constitution.
The national court structure consists of:
- The Constitutional Court
- The Federal Government level courts
- The Federal Member State level courts
A nine-memberJudicial Service Commissionappoints any Federal tier member of the judiciary.[9]It also selects and presents potential Constitutional Court judges to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament for approval. If endorsed, the President appoints the candidate as a judge of the Constitutional Court. The five-member Constitutional Court adjudicates issues pertaining to the constitution, in addition to various Federal and sub-national matters.[6]The Constitutional Court is composed of 5 judges, The Judicial Service Commission shall nominate as judge of the Constitutional Court only persons of high integrity, with appropriate qualifications in law and Shari’a, and who is highly competent in Constitutional matters, and who are of high moral character. Nominees are then presented to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament for approval. If endorsed, the President appoints the candidate as a judge of the Constitutional Court. The Chief Judge and Deputy Chief Judge are later chosen by the Constitutional Court judges from within their membership ranks.[6]
Administrative divisions
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Somalia is officially divided into eighteenregions(pluralgobollada;singulargobol), which in turn are subdivided into districts. The regions are:[10][11]
Political parties and elections
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References
edit- ^Antonios Kouroutakis Note on the Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somaliahttp:// iconnectblog /2013/09/note-on-the-provisional-constitution-of-somalia/
- ^"Somalia swears in historic new parliament".Al Jazeera English.Retrieved2012-09-18.
- ^"Somalia: UN Envoy Says Inauguration of New Parliament in Somalia 'Historic Moment'".Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.21 August 2012.Retrieved24 August2012.
- ^Ahmed, Muddassar (8 August 2012)."Somalia rising after two decades of civil war and unrest".Al Arabiya.Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2012.Retrieved9 August2012.
- ^Mulupi, Dinfin (2012-06-21)."Mogadishu: East Africa's newest business destination?".Retrieved26 June2012.
- ^abcd"The Federal Republic of Somalia - Provisional Constitution"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 January 2013.Retrieved13 March2013.
- ^"Somalia swears in historic new parliament".Al Jazeera.20 August 2012.Retrieved21 August2012.
- ^Somalia: List of new parliamentarians leakedArchived2012-11-22 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Justice Minister welcomes the establishment of Judicial service commission act".Goobjoog. 1 July 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 2 July 2014.Retrieved1 July2014.
- ^Central Intelligence Agency (2011)."Somalia".The World Factbook.Langley, Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency.Retrieved2011-10-05.
- ^Gettleman, Jeffrey (2011-06-23)."Harvard-Educated Technocrat Chosen as Somalia Premier".The New York Times.Retrieved2011-06-23.
External links
edit- Majid, Nisar, Aditya Sarkar, Claire Elder, Khalif Abdirahman, Sarah Detzner, Jared Miller, and Alex De Waal."Somalia’s politics: the usual business? A synthesis paper of the Conflict Research Programme."(2021).
- BBC Country Profilefor Somalia