History & Background of the Assembly
History of the Upper House
The establishment of the Upper House is based on the Transitional Constitution of the Federal Republic approved on 1 August 2012.
Article 1 of the Transitional Constitution states that Somalia is a federal country, so it was necessary to have a Upper House Council representing the Member States of the Federal Government of Somalia.
Although the Constitution defined the existence of the Upper House according to Article 55 of the Transitional Constitution, it was not possible to establish the Upper House until December 28, 2016, when the members of the House were sworn in to hold the position of Senator.
The Upper House of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia consists of 54 Members of Parliament (Senetar), according to Article 72 of the Transitional Constitution. According to the Federal Constitution , the member states of the FGS have the same number of members in the Upper House.
Senators of the Upper House represent the Member Governments of the Federal Government of Somalia according to Article 61, Sub Article 3 of the Transitional Constitution. Every member of the Upper House of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, when performing his duties, must work in the interest of the nation. Also, every member of the Upper House Council has a special position above the State Government elected from it regardless of politics or specific parties or groups.
According to the term of office of the Upper House, it is 4 years starting from the day the results are announced.
Every senator in the Upper House can be elected again.
The distribution of members of the Upper House based on the representation of the Member States of the Federal Government of Somalia will be as follows;
Northern Regions (Somaliland) 11
Puntland 11
Galmudug 8
Jubaland 8
South West 8
Hirshabelle 8
History of the Upper House
The Constitution of Somalia has given the Upper House the power to represent the Member States of the Federal Government, to protect the federal system, and the House can create and change the laws of the country, as well as for the House to check the bills, and monitor the Government and other government officials at the national level.
Constitutional powers and duties of the Upper House:
Article 71 of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament of Somalia
The Upper House of the Federal Parliament represents the Member States of the Federal Government, and its legislative responsibilities include:
(a) Participation in amending the Constitution, in accordance with Chapter 15;
(b) Approval, amendment and rejection of the laws brought before, in accordance with the Articles
82-83;
(c) Review of mandated laws in accordance with Articles 82-83;
(d) Participation in the election of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia in accordance with Article 89;
(e) Dismissal of the President in accordance with Article 92;
(f) Participating in the process of declaring a state of war in accordance with this constitution;
(g) Implementation of other priorities authorized by the Constitution to ensure proper implementation and revision of the Constitution;
(h) Participation in the process of declaring a state of emergency in accordance with this constitution;
(i) Participation in the process of appointing the following members of the following Government bodies in accordance with this Constitution:
(i) Members of the Judicial Service Council;
(ii) President and Judges of the Constitutional Court;
(iii) Members of the Independent National Electoral Commission;
(iv) Members of the Borders and Federalization Committee;
(v) Members of the Arbitration Committee.
