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Somali Youth League

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Somali Youth League
Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed
رابطة الشباب الصومالي
Lega dei Giovani Somali
PresidentAbdulkadir Sheikh Sakhawudeen
Founded15 May 1943 (15 May 1943)
Banned1969 (1969)[1]
HeadquartersMogadishu, Somalia
Harar (proposed)
IdeologyPan-Somalism
Somali nationalism
Islamic democracy
Colours    Red, White, Blue
Party flag

The Somali Youth League (SYL) (Somali: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: رابطة الشباب الصومالي, Italian: Lega dei Giovani Somali or Lega Somala della Gioventù), initially known as the Somali Youth Club (SYC), was the first political party in Somalia.

It played a key role in the nation's road to independence during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

History

British Military Administration

Main article: British Military Administration (Somali)

Somali Youth Club

During the Second World War, Britain occupied Italian Somaliland and militarily administered the territory from 1941 to 1950. Faced with growing Italian political pressure inimical to continued British tenure and Somali aspirations for independence, the Somalis and the British came to see each other as allies. The first modern Somali political party, the Somali Youth Club (SYC), was subsequently established in Mogadishu in 1943.[2] The professed goal of the SYC was to free the Somali masses from decades of colonial propaganda created with the intent to divide-and-rule the country.[3]

Formation of Somali Youth League

At its foundation in 1943, the party had thirteen founding members.[2][4] The Harari would become members in 1946 when SYL opened an office in Harar.[5] SYL supported Greater Somalia with Harar being the capital and a combined Harari-Somali representatives were commissioned to reveal this proposal to the U.N office in Mogadishu.[6] Somali Youth League members were significantly influenced by the earlier religious rebellion at the turn of the century of various religious figures such as Uways al-Barawi, Sheikh Hassan Barsane and Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.[citation needed]

To empower the new party, the better educated police and civil servants were permitted to join it. By 1948, following an official visit to the territory by the Four Power Commission, the SYC was a well-structured political unit,[7] Abdullahi Issa was elected as its secretary general and renamed itself as the Somali Youth League (SYL) and began to open offices not only in Italian and British Somaliland, but also in the Ogaden and in the Northern Frontier District (NFD). The SYL's stated objectives were to unify all Somali territories, including the NFD and the Ogaden; to create opportunities for universal modern education; to develop the Somali language by a standard national orthography; to safeguard Somali interests; and to oppose the restoration of Italian rule. SYL policy banned clannishness so that the thirteen founding members, although representing four of Somalia's five major clans, refused to disclose their clan affiliations. Although the SYL enjoyed considerable popular support from northerners, the principal parties in British Somaliland were the Somali National League (SNL) and National United Front (NUF), mainly associated with the Isaaq clan, and the United Somali Party (USP), which had the support of the Dir (Gadabuursi) and Darod (Dulbahante and Warsangali) clans.[8]

Trust Territory of Somaliland

Main article: Trust Territory of Somaliland

In 1945, the Potsdam conference was held, where it was decided not to return Italian Somaliland to Italy.[8] The Somali Youth League had proposed a UN Trusteeship to lead Somalia to independence, under the condition that it was not under Italian administration and that the Trusteeship managed all Somali territories. In a memo to the UN the SYL stated:

"We do not pretend we can stand on our own feet for the moment, but ask the United Nations Trusteeship council to decide questions relating to the formation, boundaries, and administration of a Somali Trust Territory known as Somalia, this territory to consist of all areas present predominantly populated by Somalis."[9]

In November 1949 the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of the former Italian Somaliland.[10]

The Somali Youth League was firmly against Italian return to Somalia in any form, and campaigned against the return of Italian rule with the slogan, "No matter what the color, a wolf is always a wolf."[11] Before the Italians returned to Somalia, the SYL held a major summit in order to formulate a common policy and unified attitude toward the Trusteeship government. It was initially decided to launch an armed resistance, but after serious deliberation the league came to the conclusion that a more temperate course would be better for Somali citizens. Following the summits conclusion the SYL delivered a paper to the chief Italian administrator explaining its position. The League informed the administration that it would continue to agitate for independence and expressed hope that the new government would not resist SYL efforts. It was made clear that the organization was willing to cooperate with the Trusteeship authorities if they reciprocated. The League demanded that Arabic be made the official language of the Trusteeship instead of Italian and further requested that Italian government not bring back officials from the fascist era.[12]

The first half of AFIS's decade long rule would be marked by animosity and conflict between the Italian authorities and the Somali Youth League. Numerous SYL officials who had gained positions of prominence during the era of British Military Administration were either demoted, removed from their positions or imprisoned by Italians officials. These attempts to marginalize the league would lead to demonstrations across the country which were strongly repressed by the government, who had at the time come to decision not cooperate or concede to the SYL's plans.[13][14]

Independence and formation Somali Republic

Main article: Somali Republic

British Somaliland remained a protectorate of Britain until June 26, 1960, when it became independent. The former Italian Somaliland followed suit five days later.[15] On July 1, 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic, albeit within boundaries drawn up by Italy and Britain.[16][17][18] A government was formed by Abdullahi Issa Mohamud and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal with Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as the first President of the Somali Republic,[19][20] and Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as Prime Minister, later to become President (from 1967-1969). On July 20, 1961 and through a popular referendum, the Somali people ratified a new constitution, which was first drafted in 1960.[21]

In the first national elections after independence, held on 30 March 1964, the SYL won an absolute majority of 69 of the 123 parliamentary seats. The remaining seats were divided among 11 parties. Five years from then, in general elections held in March 1969, the ruling SYL led by Mohammed Ibrahim Egal returned to power. However, in the same year, then President of Somalia Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was assassinated.[22][23][24][25]

1969 Coup d'etat and dissolution

Main article: 1969 Somali coup d'état

In 1969 military coup ensued, with Siad Barre now assuming leadership. Barre's Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) subsequently renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic,[22][23] arrested members of the former government, banned political parties,[24] dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution.[25]

Political leaders

Founders and leaders

The following is a list of the SYL's 13 original

  • Mohamed Jama
  • Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke
  • Dahir Haji Osman Sharmarke (Dhegaweyne)
  • Mohamed Hirsi Nur (Seyedin)
  • Aden Isaaq Ahmed (Borama)
  • Haji Mahamed Hussein Mahad
  • Osman Geeddi Rage
  • Dhere Haji Dhere
  • Ali Hasan Maslah
  • Mohamed Ali Nur,
  • Mohamed Farah Hilowle
  • H. Mohamed Abdullahi Hayesi
  • Marwan Osman Mohamed

Notable members

The following is a list of other notable public officials that emerged from the SYL's ranks:

Presidents
Prime Ministers
Presidents of the Somali National Assembly
Ministers
Parliamentarians
Other

Somali Youth Day

The Somali Youth League's establishment on May 15, 1943 is annually commemorated in Somalia. Official celebrations are organized throughout the country on this Somali Youth Day to honour the SYL's members and their key role in the nation's path to independence. In 2014, government representatives, youth associations, women's groups, singers and local residents celebrated the Somali Youth League's 71st anniversary.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Metz, Helen C., ed. (1992), "Politics", Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, retrieved April 1, 2013
  2. ^ a b Lewis 1961, p. 306.
  3. ^ Hussen 2021, p. 50.
  4. ^ Coleman, James (1988). Ufahamu. African Activist Association, African Studies Center, University of California. p. 95.
  5. ^ Barnes, Cedric (2007). "The Somali Youth League, Ethiopian Somalis and the Greater Somali Idea" (PDF). Journal of Eastern African Studies. 1 (2): 285. doi:10.1080/17531050701452564. S2CID 143480501.
  6. ^ Islamic Reform in Twentieth-Century Africa. Edinburgh University Press. 8 September 2016. ISBN 9781474414913.
  7. ^ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p.304.
  8. ^ a b Federal Research Division, Somalia: A Country Study, (Kessinger Publishing, LLC: 2004), p.38
  9. ^ Drysdale 2000, p. 63-64.
  10. ^ Henry Louis Gates, Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, (Oxford University Press: 1999), p.1749
  11. ^ Hussein 2017, p. 58.
  12. ^ Hussein 2017, p. 79.
  13. ^ Petrucci 1993, p. 92.
  14. ^ Lewis 2002, p. 140.
  15. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, (Encyclopædia Britannica: 2002), p.835
  16. ^ The beginning of the Somali nation after independence Archived 2008-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ The dawn of the Somali nation-state in 1960 Archived 2009-01-16 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ The making of a Somalia state
  19. ^ Aden Abdullah Osman the founding father
  20. ^ The founding father of Somalia
  21. ^ Greystone Press Staff, The Illustrated Library of The World and Its Peoples: Africa, North and East, (Greystone Press: 1967), p.338
  22. ^ a b J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver, The Cambridge history of Africa, Volume 8, (Cambridge University Press: 1985), p.478.
  23. ^ a b The Encyclopedia Americana: complete in thirty volumes. Skin to Sumac, Volume 25, (Grolier: 1995), p.214.
  24. ^ a b Metz, Helen C., ed. (1992), "Coup d'Etat", Somalia: A Country Study, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, retrieved October 21, 2009.
  25. ^ a b Peter John de la Fosse Wiles, The New Communist Third World: an essay in political economy, (Taylor & Francis: 1982), p.279.
  26. ^ "SOMALIA: Somali Youth day celebrated in Garowe". Raxanreeb. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.

Sources

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