Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (, ; born 24 April 1956), colloquially known as Irro (), is a Somaliland politician and diplomat who has been the 6th and current

President of Somaliland The president of the Republic of Somaliland (; ) is the head of state and head of government of Somaliland. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somaliland Armed Forces. The president represents the Government of Somaliland. The f ...

since 12 December 2024. Abdirahman served as speaker of the Somaliland House of Representatives during most of the first elected parliament. He was announced as the presidential nominee in the

2024 Somaliland presidential election Presidential elections were held in Somaliland on 13 November 2024. In the election, incumbent President Muse Bihi Abdi of the Kulmiye party was seeking a second and final term in office against the opposition candidates Abdirahman Mohamed Abdul ...

for the

Waddani The Somaliland National Party (), sometimes referred to as the Waddani National Party and better known by its shortened Somali form Waddani (stylised in all caps), is a political party in Somaliland. The party was founded by Abdirahman Mohamed A ...

Party.

Career

Early career

Professionally, Abdirahman worked at the Settlement Development Agency (Dan-wadaagaha) in different parts of Somalia. From 1981, he took on a position in the foreign service of the

Somali Democratic Republic The Somali Democratic Republic (; , ; ) was a socialist state in Somalia that existed from 1969 to 1991. Established in October 1969, the Somali Democratic Republic emerged following a 1969 Somali coup d'état, coup d'état led by Major General ...

. Abdirahman also served in the Somali Embassy as the first consular in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, which covered the entire

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1991, he was re-appointed as Somalia's acting Ambassador to the Soviet Union. In this capacity, Abdirahman assisted the many Somali expatriates who had left Somalia following outbreak of the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He later relocated to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 1996 to join his family, who had moved there a few years prior, and subsequently received Finnish citizenship.

UCID Party

In 2005, Abdirahman was elected in the

2005 Somaliland parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Somaliland on 29 September 2005. They were the first multiparty parliamentary election conducted in the country. Electoral system The 82 members of the House of Representatives were elected by open list prop ...

to represent the

Justice and Welfare Party The Justice and Welfare Party (, UCID; ), sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, and also known as For Justice and Development, was the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tended to be supported by people from th ...

(UCID) in Sahil. The UCID political party was the first opposition party formally formed in Somaliland, Somalia after the ruling

United Peoples' Democratic Party The United Peoples' Democratic Party (), shortened UDUB, was one of the three political parties in Somaliland. It was founded by president Egal in July 2001 in the preparation of the elections, which were originally scheduled for December 2001 ...

(UDUB), while other politicians generally focused their opposition against the region's incumbent Egal administration (AHN). UCID also supported the referendum which put the foundation for the multi-party system, a process which many politicians have opposed and saw favouring Egal (AHN).

2005 Somaliland parliamentary election

Somaliland held elections to an 82-member House of Representatives on 29 September 2005. It was the first multi-party parliamentary election conducted in Somaliland since 1991, when the civil war began.

2017 Somaliland presidential election

The

2017 Somaliland presidential election Presidential elections were held in Somaliland on 13 November 2017, the third direct presidential election since 2003. General elections had been scheduled to be held in Somaliland on 27 March 2017 to elect both the President and House of Repres ...

was the third direct presidential election since 2003, held nominally on 13 November 2017. The result was a victory for ruling

Kulmiye The Kulmiye Peace, Unity and Development Party (; ), also known as simply Kulmiye (), is a political party in Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country ...

party candidate

Muse Bihi Abdi Musa Bihi Abdi (, ; born 16 June 1948) is a Somaliland politician and former military officer who served as the 5th President of Somaliland from 2017 to 2024. During the 1970s, he served as a pilot in the Somali Air Force under the Siad Barr ...

, who received 55% of the vote. Abdirahman received 41% of the vote.

2024 Somaliland presidential election

Abdirahman was elected

in the

as the candidate of the Waddani Party. He won nearly 64% of the vote, while incumbent president

received 35%. He was inaugurated on 12 December 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullahi, Abdirahman Mohamed Living people Speakers of the House of Representatives (Somaliland) Presidents of Somaliland 1956 births People from Hargeisa Somalian emigrants to Finland Finnish people of Somali descent Naturalized citizens of Finland