2001 Somaliland constitutional referendum

31 May 2001 (2001-05-31)
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 1,148,940 97.10% No 34,302 2.90% Valid votes 1,183,242 99.61% Invalid or blank votes 4,591 0.39% Total votes 1,187,833 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 1,188,746 99.92%

A constitutional referendum was held inSomaliland on 31 May 2001.^[1] The referendum was held on a draftconstitution that affirmed Somaliland's independence fromSomalia. 99.9% of eligible voters took part in the referendum and 97.1% of them voted in favour of the constitution.^[2]

The ratification of the constitution confirmedSomaliland's independence, strengthened theexecutive branch and confirmedIslam as the "national faith".^[3] Most importantly, it endorsedmultiparty elections at all levels of government throughuniversal suffrage paving way fordemocratic rule.^[3]

However the referendum was opposed by theGovernment of Somalia and did not lead to any international recognition.

In May 1991 after the fall of the military dictator of Somalia,Siad Barre, theSomali National Movement declared the independence of Somaliland. In 1993 anexecutive presidency was set up with abicamerallegislature andMuhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal was elected president by a council of elders. In 1997, at a Conference of Somaliland Communities inHargeisa, a constitution was adopted to last for 3 years until a referendum could take place to bring it into full effect.^[4]

The constitution was amended in 2000 and the referendum was delayed until 2001. Meanwhile, the attempts to form a national government of Somalia and the formation of theTransitional National Government of Somalia in May 2000 encouraged Somaliland to hold a referendum to try to show Somaliland's desire for independence.^[5]

The referendum in effect became a vote on the independence of Somaliland due to the inclusion in the constitution of a clause on Somaliland's independence.^[6][7] The SomalilandParliament allocated in excess of $650,000 to finance the referendum, nearly 5% of the total national budget.^[8] As there had been nocensus or voter lists, community elders decided who was eligible to vote.^[9]

In August 2002, PresidentEgal's government distributed thousands of copies of the proposed constitution across Somaliland.^[8]

TheTransitional Federal Government of Somalia opposed the referendum, describing it as illegal and said that thegovernment of Somaliland had no authority to unilaterally separate from Somalia.^[10] The referendum was also opposed by the leadership of the neighbouring region ofPuntland.^[8] Nointernational organisation or country supported the referendum.^[11]

A team of tenobservers from theInitiative and Referendum Institute observed the referendum.^[8] They were only able to visit 57 of the 600polling stations and avoided theSool region entirely due to security concerns.^[8] This was due to the region being regarded as the "most volatile" region of Somaliland and having opposition to the referendum occurring.^[8]

However, in those stations recorded they reported that the referendum was open, fair, peaceful and any fraud was rare and insignificant.^[4]

President of Somaliland Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal described the referendum as having made Somaliland into a nation and put an end to any question of reuniting with Somalia.^[12] However, despite the support for independence demonstrated in the referendum, onlyIsrael has since recognised the independence of Somaliland.

• Referendums in Somaliland
• 2001 referendums
• 2001 in Somaliland
• Constitutional referendums
• May 2001 in Africa

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