The Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia: Process, Architecture and Perspectives

Abstract

<section class="abstract"> Much ink has been spilled over the Republic of Somalia. Somaliland became synonymous for pariah state and was in the spotlight and in the immediate interest of international organisations and intergovernmental bodies due to the continuous deadlock and unsolvable political turmoil. Quite recently, the country attracted the interest of the international community as a new Constitution was adopted, and thus the Republic of Somalia joined the club of numerous African countries, such as Tunisia, Egypt, South Sudan, and Libya with a new constitutional order. The Constitution was adopted with the aim of terminating a long period of tensions, warfare, political turmoil, and often chaos, by establishing efficient political institutions and introducing governance that is more responsive and accountable to its people. In this Note, I review and evaluate the Somali Constitution, while the aim is to provide an overview of the role of the constitutional drafting process and the new constitution in the political era of the post conflict Somalia. The analysis begins by considering the recent political environment of Somaliland, and the whole process that led to the new Constitution. This will be followed by a detailed discussion about the major components of the Constitution, elaborating on the architecture of the polity. Finally, the last part will be devoted to an attempt to highlight the benefits and the deficits of the new constitution. </section>