Somalia

House of the People Upper House

Upper House

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes
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About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Federal Parliament
Chamber name
Aqalka Sare (Upper House)
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

Notes:

In accordance with the amendments to the 2012 provisional constitution, adopted by Parliament in March 2024, the parliamentary term has been extended from four to five years.
The new parliamentary term has been applied to the current legislature. Its term, started in April 2022, will thus continue until April 2027, instead of 2026.
The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2026, before the expiry of the current legislature, under what is known as the three-party system: the three parties that win the most seats in the local elections will contest the parliamentary elections.

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1963 to 1969
from 1980 to 1990
from 2006 to 2008
from 2013
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
African Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the Upper House
Speaker
Abdi Hashi Abdullahi (Male)
Date of birth: 01 Dec 1946
Term
22 Jan 2017
Additional information

Elected on 22 Jan. 2017, re-elected on 26 Apr. 2022.

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Abdinasir Ibrahim Guled (Male)
Term
11 Dec 2022
Notes

Appointed on 11 Dec. 2022.

Members

Statutory number of members
54

Notes:

Indirectly elected by state assemblies.

The Upper House shall comprise no more than 54 members drawn from: the 18 regions that existed in Somalia before 1991; the current number of federal member states in Somalia. All federal member states shall have an equal number of representatives in the Upper House.

Three seats are reserved for the clans of Sool, Eastern Sanaag and Buuhoodle. One of those seats belongs to minorities in the clan areas.

Two further seats are reserved for the Somaliland communities.

Principal mode of designation of members
Indirectly elected
Indirectly elected members
54
Current number of members
54
Men
40
Women
14
Percentage of women
25.9%
Statutory number of members per country 
329
Population (in thousands)
18,358
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
55,799

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
No information available
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male No information available
Female
Total <= 45: - Total >= 46: -
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
- - -
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
- - -
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
- - -

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
No
Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
No information available
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

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Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No