ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the process in Somaliland that contributed to the consolidation of a democratic de facto state through a combination of locally legitimate meetings and conferences and sometimes enlightened leadership. Since the victory of the local insurgent group, the Somali National Movement (SNM) at the start of 1991, Somaliland has seen a transition from interim military administration to civilian government, and then a series of elections for local government, parliament and the presidency. The Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) was composed of an even more ideologically diverse group than the SNM, and was never able to formulate a coherent statement of political or social objectives. When in 1981, a group of returned diaspora members established a self-help project to upgrade the facilities at Hargeisa Hospital, Siad Barre became convinced that they posed a threat to his regime. While the SNM was clearly dominated by leaders from the Isaaq clan-family, it had seen varying levels of linkage with non-Isaaq clans.
