Notes
- Offices do not have formal diplomatic status under the ‘Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations.’
- Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, or “Movement of Striving Youth.”
- The list of forbidden items and practices in al-Shabaab controlled areas include: shaving; bras for women; radio stations; cinemas; soccer and women in public life. Those who break these rules have been punished by public stoning and floggings, amputations, and beheadings (Jones 2011).
- The Hawiye are primarily found in south-central Somalia, the Darod in Puntland, and the Issaq in Somaliland.
- Prices converted into today’s equivalency using Retail Price Index.
- Soomaaliweyn, Somali for ‘big Somali’, is best understood as a culturally defined national identity and heritage (Lewis 2002). As with many of Somalia’s traditional structures, Soomaaliweyn invokes the concept of a unified and connected Somali people. When translated into the context of colonial and post-colonial state-building, Soomaaliweyn is inherently tied to national and political unity. Both the Somali and Somaliland flags boast five-pointed stars, celebrating the notion of a unified Somali people. The five points of the star represent: British and Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland (present-day Djibouti), the North-Eastern Province of Kenya, and the Ogaden territory of Ethiopia.
- The separate Acts of Union contained significant differences, further marginalizing northern Somalis relative to their southern counterparts. After British Somaliland’s Parliament had ratified its Act and submitted it to the South, Italian Somaliland’s politicians passed a distinctly different Act without any consultation from the united Parliament of the Somali Republic (Schoiswohl 2004).
- During the 1964 and 1969 General Elections, the Somali Youth League (SYL) won the significant majority of votes; immediately following each election, significant numbers of “opposition MPs” crossed party lines and joined the SYL. Further, the 1969 elections saw 1000 candidates representing 62 parties standing for only 123 seats in the National Assembly.
- As described by Hussein M. Adam: “The south provided the capital city, the anthem, the flag and the constitution. The parliament elected a southern president who nominated a southern prime minister. His cabinet included four northern ministers out of fourteen. Southerners occupied key ministries such as Foreign, Interior, and Finance…” (Adam, reprinted in Schoiswohl 2004).
- “This situation was a direct result of the ‘closed list’ system of proportional representation that had been in use since independence. Voters selected parties, rather than candidates, with successful candidates identified in order of priority on pre-prepared party lists. Candidates therefore fought first for a high ranking on the Youth League list. If that was not forthcoming, it was in their interests to gather enough signatures from their clan affiliates to form a new party, with theirs often the only name on the party list. In the context of a nascent democracy in a clan-based society, this fostered a factionalized political environment in which the consolidation of parties with coherent policy platforms was sacrificed in favor of the pursuit of narrow self-interest” (Walls 2011).
- A contested region on the Somali-Ethiopian border and home to ethnic Somalis.
- British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland (present-day Djibouti), the North-Eastern Province of Kenya, and the Ogaden territory of Ethiopia (see footnote 6).
- Within a one year period, Barre created a number of self-inflicted wounds that irreconcilably damaged Somalia’s relationship with the Soviet Union. During the 1977 Peace Conference, Barre was perceived as arrogant while Ethiopian leader Mengistu Halie Mariam was viewed far more favorably (Walls 2011). In September 1977, Barre traveled to Moscow but was unsuccessful in receiving more donations. Two months later, despite their active and obvious engagement in the Ogaden conflict, Barre publically lambasted the USSR and broke off formal diplomatic relations with the country.
- Halaydhalay, a Somali expression translated as ‘he was born last night,’ is primarily invoked when reparations to a diya-paying group are too complex or extreme to feasibly repay.
- Egal’s presidential mandate ended in 1996, but the country was unable to hold elections due to the absence of a ratified constitution.
- There remains some constitutional ambiguity about the proper procedure following the death of a sitting Head of State in Somaliland. Article 89 of Somaliland’s constitution states that if the President is unable to complete his term within the last two years of his five year mandate, then the VP is expected to assume the office for the remainder of the term; Article 130 states that if the President is unable to complete his term, then the Speaker of Parliament will assume the office for forty-five days until the Parliament jointly elects a new President. ICG reported that the Cabinet and Parliament were fearful of a political vacuum immediately following Egal’s death and thus supported Article 89 as a quick and legitimate solution to the looming crisis.
- Largely the result of a poorly trained National Electoral Commission, the absence of an acceptable voter roll, and unilateral extensions of the President’s mandate by the Guurti (ICG 2009).
- Famine is declared in a region when 20 percent of the population has access to fewer than 2,100 kilocalories of food per day; 30 percent of children or more have acute malnutrition, and there are 2 adult deaths (or 4 child deaths) per 10,000 people per day (Kohari 2011).
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