According to Somaliland’s constitution, the president is directly elected for a maximum of two five-year terms and appoints the cabinet. The presidential election of 2010, originally scheduled for 2008, resulted in a smooth transfer of power from the UDUB party to the main opposition party, Kulmiye. Members of Somaliland’s 82-seat lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives, are directly elected for five-year terms, while members of the 82-seat upper house, or Guurti, are indirectly elected for six-year terms. In 2010, the terms of the lower and upper house were extended until 2013 and 2014, respectively, on the grounds that Somaliland could not organize another election so soon after the presidential poll.

A constitutional restriction that allowed for a maximum of three political parties was relaxed in 2011 following a vote in parliament. In October 2011, a new party, Waddani, was formed by breakaway members of the UCID party. Although parties defined by region or clan are technically prohibited, party and clan affiliations often coincide.

Corruption in Somaliland was a serious problem under the government of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, but there have been signs of improvement under his successor, President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo. In March 2012, three top officials charged with mismanaging food aid were fired. The three claimed that the government had pressured the judge to convict them. In June, Abdirashid Duraan, the judge who presided over the case, was wounded after being shot by unknown gunmen. A bill to strengthen the five-member Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission, an informal body established in 2010, passed the lower house in October and the upper house in November; this was the latest effort to crack down on the misuse of public funds.

While freedoms of expression and the press are guaranteed by the constitution, these rights are limited in practice. Journalists faced increased government interference and harassment in 2012. In August, the Somaliland Journalist Association characterized 2012 as “the worst time for freedom of expression in Somaliland,” and in December cited the arrest and temporary detention of 81 journalists that year, compared to 51 cases in all of 2011. Demonstrations following a January 2012 police raid against Horn Cable TV, a private media outlet that Silanyo accused of “spreading propaganda against his administration,” led to the arrest and temporary detention of more than 20 journalists. Somali 24 TV reporter Ahmed Ali Farah was arrested in late March for covering a conference announcing the independence of Khaatumo State. Somaliland National Television journalist Hodan Abokor Afi was beaten in August while covering a child custody case; her suspected attacker was a deputy police commander. Though she filed a complaint, it was reportedly dismissed. The government owns the only domestic radio station, Radio Hargeisa, and prohibits the establishment of private stations. There are seven private daily newspapers in addition to the state-owned Mandeeq, although they have limited circulations. The government does not restrict access to the internet.

Islam is the state religion, and nearly all Somaliland residents are Sunni Muslims. While the Somaliland constitution allows for freedom of belief, it prohibits conversion from Islam and proselytizing by members of other faiths. It also requires that candidates for the presidency, vice presidency, and House of Representatives be Muslim. Academic freedom is less restricted than in neighboring Somalia. The territory has at least 10 universities and colleges of higher learning, though none are adequately resourced.

Freedoms of assembly and association are constitutionally guaranteed. However, the government banned political demonstrations after the May 2012 arrests of three opposition leaders in Hargeisa, who were protesting the PPR&VC’s decision to disqualify their groups from participating in the November local elections. The government mounted a crackdown on demonstrations held in support of the new government in Somalia. In August, dozens of men were arrested in Las Anod for organizing a demonstration to commemorate the new Somali parliament. In October, 15 elderly women and several journalists were arrested in the Sool region for rallying in support of the newly appointed Somali prime minister.

International and local nongovernmental organizations operate without serious interference. The constitution does not specifically mention the right to strike, though it does permit collective bargaining. The right to belong to a union is generally respected.

The judiciary is underfunded and lacks independence, while the Supreme Court is largely ineffective. Somaliland has approximately 100 judges, most of whom do not have formal legal training. Somaliland’s constitution allows for three legal systems, based on Sharia (Islamic law), civil law, and customary law. Upon taking office, Silanyo pledged to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and release all prisoners who had not been charged with a crime, apart from those accused of terrorism or theft. In May 2011, he pardoned 751 prisoners to mark Somaliland’s twentieth anniversary. Somaliland’s police and security forces, while more professional than those in Somalia, have at times used excessive force.

Societal fault lines are largely clan-based. Larger, wealthier clans have more political clout than the less prominent groups, and clan elders often intervene to settle conflicts. There has been increased discrimination against foreigners. In January 2012, the government confirmed the forced return of 15 unregistered Ethiopian refugees and 5 asylum seekers who were squatting at an informal settlement in Hargeisa known as the Social Welfare Centre. Though condemned by Human Rights Watch, the deportations continued. In August, about 100 Ethiopian refugees, largely women and children, were deported.

While society in Somaliland is patriarchal, women have made modest advances in public life. Silanyo appointed 2 women to his 20-member cabinet. There is only one woman in the House of Representatives, one in the Guurti, and a woman was elected chairperson of the Somaliland Human Rights Commission. Female genital mutilation, while illegal, is practiced on the vast majority of women.