The constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
Section 1
-The Constitution
Somalia is a sovereign republic.
The constitution of Somalia is established in this constitutional act. The constitution shall guarantee the inviolability
of human dignity and the freedom and rights of the individual and promote justice in society.
Somalia participates in international co-operation for the protection of peace and human rights and for the
development of society. (This section is pretty standard for most modern constitutions)
Section 2
-Democracy and the rule of law
The powers of the State in Somalia are vested in the people, who are represented by the Parliament.
Democracy entails the right of the individual to participate in and influence the development of society and his or hers
living conditions.
The exercise of public powers shall be based on an Act. In all public activity, the law shall be strictly observed.
Section 3
-Parliamentarism and the separation of powers
The legislative powers are exercised by the Federal Parliament, which shall also decide on State finances.
The governmental powers are exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government, the members of which
shall have the confidence of the Parliament.
The judicial powers are exercised by independent courts of law, with the Supreme Court and the Supreme
Administrative Court as the highest instances.
Section 4
-The Territory of Somalia
The territory of Somalia is indivisible. The national borders can not be altered without the consent of the Parliament. Final say on the matter falls umder a national referendum.
Section 5
-Somali citizenship
A child acquires Somali citizenship at birth if his or hers Father is Somali citizen. A child also acquires Somali citizenship if he is born in Somali soil and through the citizenship of its parents, as provided in more detail by
an Act. Citizenship may also be granted upon notification or application, subject to the criteria determined by an Act.
No one can be divested of or released from his or her Somali citizenship except on grounds determined by an Act
and only if he or she is in possession of or will be granted the citizenship of another State. Somali citizen can not have dual citizenship.
Section 6
-Land, property and enviroment.
Land shall be held, used and managed in an equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable manner.
No permit may be granted regarding the permanent use of any portion of the land, sea or air of
the territory of the Federal Republic of Somalia. The Federal Parliament shall enact a law regulating
the size, timeline and conditions of permits of land use.
Section 7
-Devolution of the powers of state in the federal republic of Somalia.
In the Federal Republic of Somalia, the state is composed of two levels of government:
-Federal Government level;
-The federal memberstate level, wich is comprised of federal memberstate government, and the local governments.
Section 8
-The number and boundaries of the federal member states and districts. (This will propably be the most debated and discussed section of the constitution. There is many ways we can draw the lines of the memberstates, but in my opinion there is only three viable options to determinate the boundaries and number of the Federal Members States.
Option 1: The 18 regions of the Kacaan era different combination of these regions.
Or the 8 original regions of pre kacaan.
Option 2:
We can make Federal Member states based on Qabiils. This would make the country a hot mess and would need a strong Federal Government like in Ethiopia.
Option 3:
Federal Member States will be formed based on Districts. These districts have to meet certain legal requirements like population (lets say 50 000 is the minimum and 25 000 ppl equal 1 MP) and they have to provide certain services like free education, healthcare, police service, water and desanitation service and postal service and etc.We can use these districts as starting point or from scratch.)
The number and boundaries of the Federal Member States shall be determined by the House of the
People of the Federal Parliament.
The House of the People of the Federal Parliament, before determining the number and
boundaries of the Federal Member States, shall nominate a national commission which shall study
the issue, and submit a report of its findings with recommendations to the House of the People of
the Federal Parliament.
Section 9.
-The Highest authority.
Highest authority in the federal republic Of Somalia has the Federal Parliament.
Section 10.
-Seat of the federal government.
(This will also be subject to lot of debate. In a federal republic the seat of government can be determined by the nature of the federal government.
1. If the federal government ejoys a lot of authority and has substancial power, lets say it can directly collect falue added taxes and it allocates the budgets of the member states. And also if the federal government has much more responsibilites relative to the federal member states. Then the Governments seat should be independent district, directly governed by the Federal Government.
2. If the Federal government has no real authority and much of the nation is decentralised and most of the government duties and power is in the hands of Member States. Then the governemnt should only control few buildings that houses federal instutions.)
Feedback would be appreciated.
