{"id":838429,"date":"2026-10-29T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838429"},"modified":"2026-10-29T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:40:00","slug":"somaliland-bans-its-residents-from-taking-part-in-somalias-elections-and-political-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838429","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland bans its residents from taking part in Somalia’s elections and political activities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Somaliland<\/figure>\n

The first page of the Somaliland Ministry of Interior and Security directive of October 28, 2026, on participation in Somalia's political activities, as shared on X by MP Abdilahi Gacmadhere. Photo: @AbdilahiGacma via X<\/em><\/p>\n

Somaliland's Interior Ministry has banned anyone in its territory from taking part in Somalia's political activities, including elections and campaigns, and ordered security agencies to bring violators to court.<\/p>\n

The directive, signed on Wednesday by Minister of Interior and Security Abdalle Mohamed Arab, known in Somali as Cabdalle Maxamed Carab, says that participation in Somalia's political affairs is an offence against the independence of the Republic of Somaliland. According to Somali Dispatch, which reported the letter on Wednesday, the minister based the decision on Articles 22 and 29 of Law No. 71\/2025, and said the warning covers government officials, politicians, organizations and other groups. Security agencies were told to enforce it and to take legal action against anyone found violating it.<\/p>\n

Copies of the directive were shared widely on X by Somaliland officials and media on Wednesday. The member of parliament Abdilahi Gacmadhere (@AbdilahiGacma) posted the two page letter with the comment that "protecting the statehood of the Republic of Somaliland is not a political choice; it is a legal duty that cannot be avoided." He added that the ministry had always had the duty to take clear action against participation in Somalia's politics.<\/p>\n

Other accounts summarised the text in English. The broadcaster SAAB TV (@tvsaab) said the minister had issued "strict resolutions," the first of which is that taking part in Somalia's political activities is prohibited by a joint resolution of both houses of Somaliland's parliament. The commentator Abdillahi M. Ali wrote on X that the notice reaffirms existing law, the Constitution and Resolution JSL\/GB\/01\/10\/2003, a 2003 decision of the two chambers that bans anyone within Somaliland from taking part in the political affairs of Somalia. The commentator Ahmed Abdlahi (@Ahmed_Abdlahi) called it an important step to strengthen Somaliland's independence and posted the key points of the letter.<\/p>\n

The trigger appears to be local. Somali Dispatch reported that the warning followed an announcement in Hargeisa by a man originally from southern Somalia who said he intended to run for president of Somalia. That announcement raised the question of whether Somali political campaigns, and the electoral process that Mogadishu is trying to run ahead of the end of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's term, could take place openly in Somaliland.<\/p>\n

Not everyone read the directive the same way. The Malool Space account (@Mohamed94540259), which hosts political debates in Somali, said many Somalilanders interpret the statement differently from what it actually says, and argued in a video that the ministry may mean more than what is written. Somali Dispatch also noted that the ban raises questions about how it will be applied to political speech, peaceful gatherings and the rights of residents, and said clear explanations of what is banned would help avoid confusion.<\/p>\n

Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared its separation from Somalia in 1991 and has held its own elections since then, including the presidential vote of November 2024 that brought President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Irro, to power. Somalia still considers Somaliland part of its territory. Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent state on December 26, 2025, Reuters reported at the time, a move Mogadishu and the African Union rejected, and the issue has since been raised in debates far from Hargeisa. On Wednesday the veteran Somaliland journalist Yusuf Gabobe (@yGabobe) criticized the use of Somaliland's name in Israel's election campaign to support one of the competing politicians, writing that "the honour of the country should be protected."<\/p>\n

The question of who takes part in Somalia's politics is sensitive in the east of the territory. Las Anod and parts of the Sool region are now run by the North Eastern State, which Somalia's Interior Ministry announced in 2025 as a federal member state, according to the state news agency SONNA. People there are expected to take part in Somalia's electoral process, while Hargeisa claims the area as its own. The directive does not say how it applies to those areas.<\/p>\n

The Federal Government of Somalia had not commented publicly on the directive by Thursday morning, and Mereja found no response from the Ministry of Interior in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n

For Somaliland's authorities the message is simple, as Gacmadhere put it on Wednesday: the ministry, he wrote, has "the duty to take clear action."<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n