2023 Sahrawi legislative election
8–9 April 2023[lower-alpha 1]
50 (of the 51)[lower-alpha 1] seats in the National Council
26 seats needed for a majority
  First party
 
Leader Brahim Ghali
Party POLISARIO
Leader's seat Did not stand[lower-alpha 2]
Last election 53 seats
Seats won 51 seats
Seat change Decrease 2
Percentage 100%
President of the National Council before election

Hamma Salama
POLISARIO

 President-elect

Hamma Salama
POLISARIO

Legislative elections were held in the Sahrawi Republic on 8–9 April 2023[1] to elect 50 of the 51 members of the Sahrawi National Council, the unicameral parliament of the SADR.

Election system

To be elected to the Sahrawi National Council the following requirements (as set in Article 82 of the 2023 Constitution[2]) have to be met:

  • Being a Sahrawi national.
  • Having a clean criminal record.
  • Being at least 25 years old.
  • Being a political supervisor performing their duties in the institution they supervise when submitting their candidacy file.
  • Having a university degree or a two-year specialised certificate, in addition to five years of work or a professional experience of no less than five years in one or more of the following jobs:
    • Member of the Sahrawi National Council for one or more terms;
    • Regional staff in the army and above;
    • Ambassador, representative or a head of a diplomatic mission at a country level;
    • Member of a regional council or above;
    • Basic branch secretary or mayor or above;
    • Member of the executive office of a mass organization for at least a full term;
    • Former secretary of a mass organization.

Elections are held on the basis of direct and universal suffrage using the single non-transferable vote election system with a gender quota reserving seats to women. Members can be re-elected but cannot assume any other public office while serving as Members of the National Council. Members come from constituencies based either on the districts of the refugee camps or the military regions of the SADR; while mass organisations and the Consultative Council get seats reserved. The President of the National Council is elected from outside of the members from candidates proposed by the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front.[3]

District MPs WQ
Sahrawi refugee camps constituencies
Auserd 6 3
Chahid El Hafed administrative camp 4 1
Bojador 3 2
Dajla 7 4
El Aaiún 6 3
Smara 7 4
Military regions (Liberated Territories)
FirstZug 1 —
SecondTifariti 1 —
ThirdMijek 1 —
FourthMehaires 1 —
FifthBir Lehlu 1 —
SixthDougaj 1 —
SeventhAgüenit 1 —
Reserve 1 —
Military rear 2 —
Mass organisations of the Polisario Front
National Union of Sahrawi Women (UNMS) 1 1
Sahrawi Trade Union (UGTSARIO) 1 —
Sahrawi Youth Union (UJSARIO) 1 —
Sahrawi Student Union (UESARIO) 1 —
Administration of the Sahrawi Republic
Consultative Council 3 —
President of the National Council 1 —

Results

PartySeats+/–
Polisario Front51Decrease 2
Total51Decrease 2
Source: [4][5]
Results by incumbency[6]
New
 
 64.7%
Incumbent
 
 35.3%
Results by gender[7]
Men
 
 56.9%
Women
 
 43.1%

Aftermath

Hamma Salama, a member of POLISARIO's national secretariat, was elected President of the Sahrawi National Council for a second term on 18 April 2023 during the constitutive session of the National Council. Salama won the vote against Bachir Mustafa Sayed and Jira Bulahi.[8]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The President of the Sahrawi National Council was elected on 18 April 2023.
  2. ↑ Brahim Ghali is the Secretary General of the POLISARIO Front and President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, thus he doesn't run for a seat.

References

  1. ↑ "انطلاق الندوات السياسية لانتخاب أعضاء المجلس الوطني الصحراوي على مستوى الولايات والمؤسسات الوطنية" [Launch of the political seminars to elect members of the Sahrawi National Council at the state and national institutions levels] (in Arabic). 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Sahara Press Service.
  2. ↑ "Article 82" (PDF). Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. January 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023 – via Center for Western Sahara Studies of the USC.
  3. ↑ "انطلاق الندوات السياسية الخاصة بإنتخاب أعضاء المجلس الوطني الصحراوي" [Launch of political seminars to elect members of the Sahrawi National Council] (in Arabic). April 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Independent News Agency.
  4. ↑ "نتائج انتخابات المجلس الوطني الصحراوي (العهدة 12)" [Results of the Sahrawi National Council elections (12th period)] (in Arabic). April 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Independent News Agency.
  5. ↑ Africa Elects [@AfricaElect] (22 April 2023). "Sahrawi Republic, legislative election: (...)" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ Africa Elects [@AfricaElect] (23 April 2023). "Sahrawi Republic, legislative election: (...) – Results by incumbency" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ Africa Elects [@AfricaElect] (23 April 2023). "Sahrawi Republic, legislative election: (...) – Results by gender" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "انتخاب حمة سلامة رئيسا للمجلس الوطني الصحراوي" [Hamma Salama, elected president of the Saharawi National Council] (in Arabic). 18 April 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Sahara Press Service.
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