# The 2005 Somaliland parliamentary election

> Somaliland's first elected House of Representatives, September 2005: the three parties, the results, the observers, and the fight over the Speaker.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s House of Representatives was elected by popular vote for the first time on 29 September 2005. President [Dahir Riyale Kahin](/en/people/dahir-riyale-kahin/) had planned the vote for mid-September, and on 10 August 2005 he "postponed the parliamentary elections by two weeks, to 29 September, at the request of the 'Somaliland' electoral commission" ([UN Security Council, S/2005/642, para. 33](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf)).

The opposition parties together won a majority of the 82 seats. For all of Somaliland's elections, see [elections in Somaliland](/en/institutions/elections-in-somaliland/). For the vote before, see [the 2003 presidential election](/en/history/somaliland-presidential-election-2003/).

## Before the vote

- **Delay.** In 2003 the House of Elders had "extended the tenure of the House of Representatives for two years" ([S/2003/636, para. 23](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Media rules.** Print and broadcast editors drafted a code of conduct that "calls for the news media to adhere to impartial reporting of the election" ([S/2005/642, para. 34](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf)).
- **Observers.** The electoral commission invited Progressio to organise an international observation mission ([International Election Observation Mission, 2018 report, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)). Its report was published in 2006 as *Further Steps to Democracy: The Somaliland Parliamentary Elections, September 2005*.

## The result

The figures as reported by the International Republican Institute's assessment of the vote ([as cited by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)):

| Party | Votes | Share | Seats |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| UDUB (United Peoples' Democratic Party) | 261,449 | 39.00% | 33 |
| Kulmiye (Peace, Unity and Development Party) | 228,328 | 34.06% | 28 |
| UCID (Justice and Welfare Party) | 180,545 | 26.93% | 21 |
| Valid votes | 670,322 | | 82 |
| Invalid or blank | 4,585 | | |
| Total | 674,907 | | |

The same article records that 76 observers from seven countries described the elections as "generally free and fair", while saying the vote "had fallen short of meeting several international standards" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Somaliland_parliamentary_election)).

## The fight over the Speaker

From the UN Secretary-General's report of February 2006 ([S/2006/122, para. 19](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf)):

- **29 November 2005.** At the first session, opposition members from Kulmiye and [UCID](/en/government/ucid-justice-and-welfare-party/) "defied a decision by the acting Speaker to adjourn Parliament and proceeded to elect a new speaker and two deputy speakers".
- **The ruling party.** UDUB members opposed the move.
- **7 December 2005.** "After an intervention by the Council of Elders", President Riyale "announced his acceptance of the election of the Speaker and his two Deputies by the opposition members of Parliament".

The Speaker from November 2005 was [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro"](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141714838)), who later founded Waddani and became President in 2024. See [speakers of the Somaliland parliament](/en/institutions/speakers-of-somaliland-parliament/).

## What followed

The house elected in 2005 sat until 2021. The observers of 2017 recorded only "one parliamentary election (lower house) in 2005" between 2002 and 2017 ([IEOM, 2018, p. 16](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf)). The next vote for the house was held on 31 May 2021, the first parliamentary election since 2005 ([Al Jazeera, 6 June 2021](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/somaliland-opposition-wins-first-parliamentary-polls-since)).

## Who suffered?

- **Voters,** who did not elect a new House of Representatives again until 2021 (Al Jazeera).

## Sources differ

- **How the vote was judged.** Observers described it as "generally free and fair" while noting it fell short of "several international standards".
- **The Speaker's election.** The opposition majority held it was valid. UDUB opposed it until the President accepted it on 7 December 2005.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Secretary-General, reports on Somalia: S/2003/636, [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2003/636&l=en&t=pdf); S/2005/642 (11 October 2005), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2005/642&l=en&t=pdf); S/2006/122 (21 February 2006), [PDF](https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2006/122&l=en&t=pdf).
- International Election Observation Mission, *The limits of consensus?* (2018), p. 16: [PDF](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014/1/SOMALILAND-ELECTION-REPORT_WEB2.pdf).

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