Somali National League
The Somali National League (SNL) ( German for Somali National League ) was a political organization and party that sought the independence of the Somali regions and their unification to form a Greater Somalia . It was founded in 1935 in what was then British Somaliland , later northern Somalia ( Somaliland ), and was primarily anchored in the Isaaq clan there .
In the elections for the Legislative Council in British Somaliland in 1960 , the Somali National League won 20 of 33 seats.
After the independence of British Somaliland and its unification with Italian Somaliland to Somalia in 1960, the SNL remained the strongest political party in Northern Somalia, while it enjoyed little support in the other parts of the country. Together with the Somali Youth League (SYL) it formed the first government of independent Somalia. A significant member of the SNL was Mohammed Haji Ibrahim Egal , who was Somalia's first prime minister in 1960.
In 1962, Egal and another SNL minister resigned from the government and, together with several SNL members, founded the new Somali National Congress (SNC) party, which gained broad support in the north. The SNC also joined a Hawiye- dominated faction from the south, making it the national party. After the 1964 elections , many SNC members, including Egal, joined the SYL.
After the Siad Barres military coup in 1969, the multi-party system in Somalia ended. The SNL was partially brought back to life in 1981 with the establishment of the Isaaq rebel organization Somali National Movement (SNM). The SNM fought against the Barre government and in 1991 proclaimed the independence of Northern Somalia as Somaliland. Mohammed Haji Ibrahim Egal became the second president of Somaliland.