Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (Somali: Xisbiga Hantiwadaagga Kacaanka Soomaaliyeed , abbreviated XHKS ; English: Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party SRSP) was the ruling party from 1976-1991 and the only legal party in Somalia under Siad Barre .
history
Soon after the pro-Soviet military came to power under Siad Barres in 1969, the Supreme Revolutionary Council ( SRC) banned all political association. Since the Soviet Union was pushing to build a communist party structure instead of the existing military regime, Siad Barre announced in 1971 that it wanted to establish a one-party state.
In June 1976 the SRC held the founding congress of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party with 3000 delegates from the regions in Mogadishu . As party leadership a central committee ( "Supreme Council", was Supreme Council ) was established, which belonged in addition to the 19 SRC officers civilian advisers, ministers and other public figures. Civilians occupied the majority of the 73 seats in the Central Committee. Eleven offices were established to fulfill the party's administrative tasks. On July 1, 1976, the SRC officially dissolved and ceded power to the XHKS.
In theory, this step marked the end of military rule, but in practice power within the party remained with the small group of officers who had dominated the SRC. The decision-making power lay with the Politburo, a body selected from the Central Committee made up of five former SRC members, including Siad Barre himself and his son-in-law Abdullah. Barre was also Secretary General of the XHKS and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The influence of the military in the party grew with the allocation of further ministerial posts to former SRC members.
The ideology of the XHKS was a " scientific socialism with Somali characteristics", with Siad Barre emphasizing its compatibility with Islam. Before the outbreak of the Ogaden War against Ethiopia from 1977 to 1978, the XHKS maintained relations with other communist parties around the world.
In December 1979 a “people's parliament” was elected, which consisted exclusively of XHKS members. The revival of the SRC followed in October 1980. With the SRC, the XHKS Central Committee and the Council of Ministers, three overlapping political structures existed. The resulting confusion ultimately meant that the decision-making power lay solely with Siad Barre.
In 1981 the opposition organization Somali Democratic Redemption Front was established in exile, which former XHKS members also joined. In 1982 Barre had several members of the "establishment", including prominent party members, arrested, probably to show that he ruled Somalia alone.
In the years that followed, the XHKS regime was confronted with growing armed resistance in various parts of the country. With the fall of Barres in 1991, the party disappeared from the political scene in Somalia.