"The first modern Somali political party, the Somali Youth Club (SYC), [was] established in Mogadishu" (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study). See the nationalist era.
The south was a UN trust territory under Italian administration; it elected its first assembly in 1956. See the UN trusteeship.
The north held its first party elections; the SNL and USP won all but one of 33 seats (Library of Congress). See British Somaliland.
Independence and union as the Somali Republic. See independence and union.
A referendum approved the constitution. See the 1960 constitution.
First national election: the SYL won 69 of 123 seats. See the 1964 election.
Sixty-four parties stood; the SYL won 73 seats. See the 1969 election and the civilian era.
The army took power and suspended the constitution (Library of Congress). See the Siad Barre era.
The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party was formed as "the country's sole legal political party" (IPU).
A referendum approved a presidential constitution. See the 1979 referendum.
Single-list elections to the People's Assembly. See 1979 and 1984.
Siad Barre, the only candidate, was elected President by direct vote. See the 1986 election.
Armed movements fought the government. See the armed movements.
Siad Barre fled; the USC named Ali Mahdi interim President. See the Interim Government of 1991.
The SNM declared the Republic of Somaliland. See the history of Somaliland.
Faction war, UN missions and repeated peace conferences. See 1991–1999.
Puntland was set up as a regional state within a future Somalia (UN Security Council, S/1999/882, para. 18). See the history of Puntland.
The Arta conference in Djibouti formed the Transitional National Government; the SRRC opposed it. See the transitional governments and the SRRC.
The Transitional Federal Parliament, chosen by clan, elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed President. See the Transitional Federal Parliament.
The Islamic Courts held Mogadishu until Ethiopian forces intervened. See the Islamic Courts Union.
An enlarged parliament elected the ARS leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed President. See the ARS.
A National Constituent Assembly adopted the Provisional Constitution, 621 to 13. See Somalia's constitutions.
Parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 190 to 79. See the 2012 election.
Federal member states were formed: Jubaland (2013), South West (2014), Galmudug (2015) and HirShabelle (2016); North Eastern State was recognised in 2025. See federal member states.
About 14,000 clan delegates chose the House of the People; state assemblies chose a new Upper House. Parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmaajo" on 8 February 2017. See the 2016 parliamentary election and the 2017 presidential election.
After a delayed electoral process, Parliament re-elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 214 to 110. See the 2022 election.
Parliament amended the constitution, chapters 1 to 4 on 30 March 2024 and chapters 5 to 15 on 4 March 2026. Puntland stopped recognising the federal government in 2024. See Somalia's constitutions and the timeline, 2012 to 2026.
under one-party rule from 1969 to 1991, and civilians in the wars that followed its collapse. See the Somali Civil War.
The UN has called each indirect vote more inclusive than the last while recording bribery and intimidation of delegates. See the 2016 parliamentary election.