Press conferences can criticize a government. Only Parliament can question ministers, amend budgets and force decisions into the public record.
Somaliland’s opposition parties increasingly compete through statements, public meetings and social-media exchanges. Parliament offers something more valuable: constitutional authority.
The House of Representatives has 82 elected members and can scrutinize legislation, question ministers, investigate government conduct and review public expenditure. Its current membership was elected in 2021 under the former party configuration, before KAAH became one of Somaliland’s three national parties. That history makes today’s parliamentary loyalties less straightforward than the original seat totals suggest.
The chamber has also entered an extended mandate following the postponement of parliamentary and local elections—a decision criticized by opposition parties and one that increases the need for visible performance.
From personalities to records
Kulmiye and KAAH can attack the WADDANI government outside Parliament, but those arguments disappear quickly unless they become motions, committee hearings, budget amendments or recorded votes.
Parliament could examine presidential foreign travel, procurement, security agreements, media detentions, investment contracts and the implementation of the Berbera Corridor. Ministers should be questioned against measurable targets rather than invited only for political confrontation.
Recent cross-party concern over press freedom demonstrated that legislators from different political backgrounds can cooperate around a constitutional issue.
That model matters. Effective opposition is not automatic rejection of every government proposal. It is the ability to support national policy where appropriate while forcing the executive to explain its decisions.
WARYATV Assessment
Parliament can become Somaliland’s opposition centre only if legislators recover control over their own agenda.
Committees need professional researchers, hearings should be public when security permits and government responses must be published. Opposition parties should coordinate on oversight priorities without pretending they share the same electoral programme.
KAAH faces a particular challenge because it became a national party after the present House was elected. It must build parliamentary influence through policy cooperation rather than assuming that political momentum outside the chamber automatically produces legislative authority.
Kulmiye, meanwhile, has enough institutional experience to lead serious oversight—but only if it replaces general accusations with documented alternatives.
A Parliament that merely extends mandates and hosts speeches will lose public confidence. A Parliament that exposes expenditure, tests ministers and improves legislation can become the country’s most important arena between elections.
The opposition does not need to wait until 2029 to demonstrate that it can govern. It can begin by showing how it legislates.
