Somalilandsun – Campaign for The Somaliland presidential election 2017 officially kicked off on the 21st as per a schedule released by the national elections commission-NEC
According to the schedule the three political parties of UCID, Kulmiye and Wadani shall have an exclusive day for campaigning all over the country and with the timeframe being 21 days each party is allotted seven days
In this regard opposition party UCID which is first in the time table launched its campaign nationwide with presidential candidate Eng Feisal Ali Warabe addressing Toghdeer region residents in the capital Burao.
The three national political parties of Kulmiye, UCID and Wadani have fielded as their candidates for the Somaliland presidency in elections slated for 13th November, Muse Behi Abdi, Eng Feisal Ali Warabe and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdilahi Irro Respectively
According to an overview by NEC Somaliland elections take place within the framework of a multi-party system introduced by the 2001 Constitution.
The Somaliland election cycle comprises the followings;
Legal framework
Voter education campaign
Update of national voter registration database before every election
Exhibition of the national voters’ Lists for
Distribution of voter cards
Nomination of candidates
Campaign period
Training of election staff
Planning election operations &logistics
Accreditation of party agents, media , domestic and international observers
Election day
Counting and declaration of provisional results
Declaration of final results
Review of election codes of conduct
Electoral reforms
Somaliland’s political structure
According to Article 37 – subsection 2 of the Somaliland Constitution (2001) “the structure of the state shall consist of three branches which are:
The legislature consist two chambers – Upper House (Guurti/Elders) and Lower House (Representatives) with 82 members for each house.
The executive is led by the President and Vice President and
The judiciary.
Electoral System
House of Representatives (HoR)& Local Councilors electoral system is proportional electoral system with an open list;-
Multi-member district (MMD)system
Six electoral regions and 23 electoral districts
Each party provides a list of candidates for each region (HoR elections) and each district ( Local council elections)
Citizens vote for a candidate chosen from one of those lists
Candidates in the parties’ list get seats in order of votes received for each candidate
Multiple winners from each region (HoR) and each district ( Local council election)
Seats are allocated to parties proportionally (Each party/association receives the same percentage of seats as the percentage of votes received)
Each region has specific seats, candidates contest throughout the region and each district has specific seats dependent on the grade (Capital city 25 seats, Grade A = 21 seats, Grade B = 17 seats, Grade C = 13 seats and Grad D = nine seats).
The terms of office of all elected offices holders are fixed by the Constitution, as five years.
The presidential election is a first-past-the-post (FPTP) system in which the winning candidate is the one with the most votes. The President and the Vice-President are elected jointly.
Political Party System
According to the Constitution, the political party system is a democratic, peaceful, multi-party system, in which the President and Vice President run on a joint ticket. Parliamentary and district councils are directly elected by registered voters through secret ballot every 
five years.
According to the article 9 (2) of Somaliland Constitution (2001) “The number of political parties in the Republic of Somaliland shall not exceed three” (More details look Law No 14/2000 ( as amended in 2011).
