The 1959 General Elections, the last held under the Trusteeship Regime

[Deeq A.]

In our recent series of articles on Somali past elections, it was explained how the flawed electoral law of 1958 (Legge N. 26, del 12 Dicembre, 1958) had paved the way for the ruling Party (SYL) to claim a landslide victory with 83 of the 90 seats in the Legislative Assembly. As a result of the restrictions imposed on the opposition parties, the political game was left open for the Lega leading the country towards one-party system. But while the Party was excited with the electoral victory, the SYL President, Aden Abdulla, was not in tune with the party’s mood. He preferred, instead, to see strong opposition taking part in the elections without hindrance. Commenting on the election results, he put the following entry in his Diary: ”I am glad of the victory of my Party, but, at the same time, I would have equally been glad had there been strong opposition and had the “Lista Unica” not been a product of fraud” (Diary Marzo 11, 1959)

Source: Hiiraan Online