2023 Sahrawi legislative election

2023 Sahrawi legislative election

← 2020 8–9 April 2023[a] 2026 →
← previous members elected members →
50 (of the 51)[a] seats in the National Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party   Leader Brahim Ghali Party Polisario Leader's seat Did not stand[b] Last election 53 seats Seats won 51 seats Seat change 2 Percentage 100%
President of the National Council before election Hamma Salama Polisario President-elect Hamma Salama Polisario

Politics of the SADR
Constitution Nationality law
Executive President Brahim Gali Prime Minister Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun
Legislature Sahrawi National Council President: Hamma Salama
Judiciary Constitutional Council Supreme Court Court of Appeal Judicial system
Politics Parties: Polisario Front
Administrative divisions Free Zones Municipalities Sahrawi refugee camps
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2016 2019 2023 Legislative: 2016 2020 2023
Foreign relations International recognition Political status of Western Sahara Western Sahara conflict ICJ Advisory Opinion Diplomatic missions of / to the SADR Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Other countries
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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.

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]

51
Party		Seats	+/–
	Polisario Front	51	2
Total		51	2
Source: [4][5]

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]