The Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia () is the

supreme law A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the Federal Republic and source of legal authority. It sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. The Provisional Constitution was adopted on August 1, 2012 by a National Constitutional Assembly in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

Banaadir Banaadir (, , ) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is the only region in the country not belonging to any of the six states. It is b ...

. Somalia's provisional Constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government, with the

President of Somalia The president of Somalia () is the head of state of Somalia. The president is also commander-in-chief of the Somali Armed Forces. The president represents the Federal Republic of Somalia, and the unity of the Somali nation, as well as ensuri ...

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and an appointed

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

. The country has a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

, which consists of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(upper house) and the House of the People (lower house). Together, they make up the

Federal Parliament of Somalia The Federal Parliament of Somalia (; often ''Baarlamaanka Federaalka Soomaaliya''; ) is the national parliament of Somalia. Formed in August 2012, it is based in the capital Mogadishu and is bicameral, consisting of an Upper House (Senate) and a ...

Previous constitutions

On June 20, 1961, and through a

popular referendum A popular referendum, depending on jurisdiction also known as a citizens' veto, people's veto, veto referendum, citizen referendum, abrogative referendum, rejective referendum, suspensive referendum, and statute referendum,Maija SetäläReferend ...

, the people of Somalia ratified a new Constitution, which was first drafted in 1960. The Constitution of 1961 had provided for parliamentary democracy, with the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (cabinet) being drawn from the membership of the legislature. The legislature also elected the head of state, or president of the republic.

Somali Democratic Republic

In 1969, following the assassination of Somalia's second president,

Abdirashid Ali Shermarke Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (, ) (8 June 1919 – 15 October 1969), was the first Prime Minister of Somalia from 12 July 1960 to 14 June 1964 and the second President of Somalia from 6 July 1967, until his assassination on October 15, 1969.

, the military staged a coup on October 21 (the day after Shermarke's funeral) and took over office. The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power was led by Major General

Siad Barre Mohammed Siad Barre (, Osmanya script: , ''Muhammad Ziād Barīy''; 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 Janu ...

. Shortly afterwards, Barre became the head of the SRC. The SRC subsequently renamed the country 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 ...

,J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver, ''The Cambridge history of Africa'', Volume 8, (Cambridge University Press: 1985), p.478.''The Encyclopedia Americana: complete in thirty volumes. Skin to Sumac'', Volume 25, (Grolier: 1995), p.214. arrested members of the former government, banned political parties,. dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the Constitution.Peter John de la Fosse Wiles, ''The New Communist Third World: an essay in political economy'', (Taylor & Francis: 1982), p.279. A new Constitution was ratified on August 25, 1979, through a

, under which elections for a People's Assembly were held. However, Barre's

Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP, , XHKS, , ) was the ruling party of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1976 to 1991. History SRSP was created by the military regime of Siad Barre under Soviet guidance. A founding congress ...

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

continued to rule. The Constitution of 1979 provided for a presidential system under which the president served as both head of state and head of government. As head of government, the president selected the members of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

, which he chaired. The Constitution of 1979 initially called for the president to be elected to a six-year, renewable term of office by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature. After Barre's overthrow, a provisional government called for a new Constitution to replace the 1979 document that had been the law of the land at the time of his ouster.

Federal Republic of Somalia

Constitutional institutions

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia promotes human rights, the rule of law, general standards of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

, justice, participatory consultative and inclusive government, the

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

between the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and an independent

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, in order to ensure

accountability In ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, culpability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public secto ...

, efficiency and responsiveness to the interests of the people. The Federal Republic of Somalia is a

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...

with a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

, where much of the executive power lies with the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Presidency

The Somali federal president is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

. The presidential powers of the head of state are far reaching and are carried out in accordance with the Constitution and the other laws of the Federal Republic of Somalia. These powers include appointing the head of the executive (Prime Minister), serving as Commander-in-Chief of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

and declaring a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

and

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Executive branch

The executive power of the federal government is vested in the federal cabinet. The Prime Minister is the

. They head the federal Cabinet, consisting of ministers appointed on the Prime Minister's suggestion. The Prime Minister is elected for a full term of 4 years and can only be dismissed by parliament electing a successor in a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

Judicial branch

Judicial authority of the Federal Republic is vested in the courts. The judiciary is independent of the legislative and executive branches of government whilst fulfilling its judicial functions. It can declare

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s as null and void if they are in violation of the Federal Constitution. The national court structure consists of: *The Constitutional Court *The Federal Government level courts *The Federal Member State level courts

Legislative branch

The main body of the legislative branch is Somalia's

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the Federal Parliament, which enacts federal legislation except laws related to the

annual budget Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

. Each member of the Federal Parliament has the right to initiate legislation, as does the cabinet. The

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

comprises 275 MPs, while the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

is capped at 54 representatives.

Constitutional crisis

References

External links

*
Provisional Constitution
(adopted August 1, 2012) {{Constitutions of Africa

Government of Somalia