Somaliland Peace Process

[2] After it was clear that the collapse of the Siad Barre regime was imminent in early 1990, traditional leaders of the Dhulbahante instigated contact with the Somali National Movement to call for a ceasefire.

[6] Moreover, this conference was followed by a meeting in April with Isaaq and non-Isaaq clan elders in Hargeisa, to make arrangements for a more formal congress with SNM representatives present.

[8] As a result, in May 1991 an SNM Central Committee convened in Burco collectively agreed upon revoking its voluntary union with the Somali Democratic Republic.

[12] As a result, the conference granted the government of Somaliland local legitimacy beyond the realms of the Isaaq dominated SNM, especially since the town of Borama was predominantly inhabited by the Gadabursi.

[2] Therefore, leading to the formation of a bicameral parliament was to be formed consisting of the 150 voting members of the conference which were then split into an upper and lower house a system embodied in the national charter.

[2] This was a critical turning point whereby a peace charter was created to bolster security and formalise the authority of traditional local elders in all aspects of peacemaking.

Sultan Farah of the Arap and Garaad Abdiqani of the Dhulbahante in Baligubadle during the Somaliland peace process
May 5 resolution of the Burao grand conference. At the second national meeting on May 18, the SNM Central Committee, with the support of a meeting of elders representing the major clans in the Northern Regions, declared the restoration of the Republic of Somaliland in the territory of the former British Somaliland protectorate and formed a government for the self-declared state.