New electoral regulations were introduced to discourage one-man lineage parties and to encourage national parties. Each constituency was assigned an ‘electoral quotient’, determined by dividing the number of votes cast by the number of seats available. Only parties polling more votes than this target quotient could gain seats. There was tremendous national interest in the impending contest and political activity on a greater scale than ever before. Many prominent civil servants resigned their posts to stand as candidates. Large sums of money were spent in campaigning; figures of £15,000 being quoted in a number of cases (the national budget at this time was £15 million). The government rallied all its resources and the much respected police commander, General Muhammad Abshir, resigned from his post, refusing to agree that police transport should be employed to carry S.Y.L. voters to the polling stations. There was a great deal of confusion and in some districts riots occurred, resulting in the reported loss of some forty lives. Despite the new electoral provisions, a record number of 1,002 candidates, representing 62 parties, contested the 123 seats. The S.Y.L. won 73 seats, the emasculated S.N.C. 11 and the H.D.M.S. a mere three. The latter result indicated how the Digil and Rahanweyn tribesmen now evidently felt that their interests were better served through the wide national parties than by their own parochial party. As usual, as soon as the National Assembly opened, a large number of members crossed the floor of the house to join the government, hoping to share in the spoils of office. The unedifying stampede of deputies left ‘Abd ar-Razaq Haji Husseyn sitting alone as the sole opposition member of the Assembly In company with the majority of its peers, the Somali Republic had at last become a one-party state.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 505