1979 Somali General Election (A New Somalia)

General elections were held in the Federal Republic of Somalia on 16 May 1979 to elect 850 members of the House of Delegates. It was the first election since the enactment of the Fixed Parliamentary National Act which increased the number of MPs, delegated some functions to regions and reduced clans influence. It resulted in the Somali National League obtaining a majority of 466 seats with hardliner Siad Barre emerging as the country next Prime Minister.

Background
In 1974, the Derg-backed Somalia Labour Party won the national elections with a majority in parliament, enabling Haji Bashir to become the next Prime Minister. In these five years, the SLP focused on continuing modernization programs and enacted public house schemes in small villages in order to expand them and complete the transition to middle-sized cities. The SNL popularity at the time remained low, however, a surge was registered on June 1978, when the Deyrere Incident was leaked to the Somalian Press; the incident has seen the elimination of hundreds of ethnic Somalians jn the Ethiopian region of Ogaden. The incident managed to increase the popularity of Siad Barre which advocated for strong retaliation against the Derg and accused Bashir of mismanagement and incompetency.

''We cannot let a hostile nation that is bordering us promote a state genocide against our people, who are indeed being persecuted by the Derg regime. '' - Barre on 9 July 1978

As a result, Barre began to prepare his manifesto for the 1979 elections, which included mandatory conscription, and stronger ties with the West but at the same time called for the promotion of Somalian Nationalism, and a decisive economic policy that included the introduction of Neoliberalism following the repetition of such ideas in the United Kingdom and United States.

Regarding nation-wide reforms, a complex package of intiatives was presented and approved to expand the parliament, introduce American-style federalism and strengthening democracy.

Aftermath
The election was marked by limited political violence, and the Somali National League, which has now been labeled as a right-wing party, won a majority in parliament.