# The 1986 Somali presidential election

> Somalia's 1986 presidential vote: the 1984 amendments, the single candidate, the one-party system, the official result, and the power struggle around it.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/history/somali-presidential-election-1986/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

Somalia's 1979 constitution, as amended in 1984, "provided for direct popular election of the president to a seven-year term. The first presidential election was held in 1986. Siad Barre, the sole candidate, received 99.9 percent of the votes" ([Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study*, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)).

The vote was held on 23 December 1986. The CIA's *World Factbook* recorded that "President Siad was reelected without opposition" ([*The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)). For how the state was run in these years, see [the Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991](/en/history/somali-democratic-republic-1969-1991/).

## The rules

- **Before 1984.** The 1979 constitution "initially called for the president to be elected to a six-year, renewable term of office by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature" ([Library of Congress, "Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm)).
- **The 1984 amendments.** They made the presidency a directly elected, seven-year office (same source).
- **One party.** The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP) was the "only party", with [Mohamed Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/) as general secretary ([*World Factbook 1990*](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)).
- **The legislature.** The People's Assembly had 177 members, 171 elected and 6 appointed. In the 1979 and 1984 assembly elections, "critics and opponents of the regime were not permitted to run". The government submitted single lists of SRSP candidates, and "in both instances, the government announced that more than 99 percent of the electorate had approved the official lists" ([Library of Congress, "The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).

## The year before the vote

From the Library of Congress ([*Somalia: A Country Study*, "Siad Barre's repressive measures"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm)):

- **23 May 1986.** Siad Barre "was severely injured in an automobile accident". He returned to work after about a month.
- **A power struggle.** The accident "unleashed a power struggle" between a "constitutional faction", led by the senior vice president, Brigadier General [Mohamed Ali Samatar](/en/people/mohamed-ali-samatar/), and a "clan faction" of the President's Marehan relatives, including his brother, his son Colonel Masleh Siad and his senior wife, Khadija.
- **November 1986.** "The dreaded Red Berets unleashed a campaign of terror and intimidation on a frightened citizenry", and the officer corps was purged "on suspicion of insufficient loyalty to the president".
- **The party congress.** The same month the SRSP held its third congress. "The Central Committee was reshuffled and the president was nominated as the only candidate for another seven-year term."

## The result

The official count, as given in Nohlen, Krennerich and Thibaut, *Elections in Africa: A data handbook* (1999), p. 813 ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Somali_presidential_election)):

| | Votes | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| For Siad Barre | 4,887,592 | 99.97% |
| Against | 1,486 | 0.03% |
| Total | 4,889,078 | |

## What followed

- **The next vote.** The *World Factbook* listed the next presidential election for December 1993. People's Assembly elections due in December 1989 were postponed ([*World Factbook 1990*](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia)); the Library of Congress gives "the civil strife that by then had engulfed most of the country" as the reason ([LoC, "The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm)).
- **The war.** From 1988 the government fought the Somali National Movement in the north. See [the Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/) and [the armed movements, 1978–1991](/en/history/armed-movements-1978-1991/).
- **January 1991.** Siad Barre was driven from Mogadishu before his term ended. See [the Siad Barre era, 1969–1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## Who suffered?

- **People targeted by the Red Berets** in the "campaign of terror and intimidation" of November 1986 (Library of Congress).
- **Officers purged** from the army in the same period (Library of Congress).

## Sources differ

- **The share of the vote.** The Library of Congress gives 99.9 percent. The count in Nohlen and others gives 99.97 percent.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Library of Congress, *Somalia: A Country Study* (1993): ["Siad Barre's repressive measures"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/28.htm), ["Constitution"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/67.htm), ["The legislature"](https://countrystudies.us/somalia/68.htm).
- Central Intelligence Agency, *The World Factbook 1990*, Somalia: [Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_%281990%29/Somalia).

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