The SYL won fewer regions despite winning the popular majority in 1963

Evidence

The results of the election were that the SYL won only four of the eight regions and lost the capital, Mogadishu, even though it won the lion’s share of the votes. Immediately after the results were announced, opposition parties lodged petitions with the president to register their misgivings about the results. In addition, there was an attempt on the life of the governor of the Northeast District, where the Somali National Congress and Somali Democratic Union lost to the SYL. President Osman lamented the behavior of the dominant party and the opposition: Many of the telegrams of protest from the last few days that I received give sufficient indication of the dissatisfaction (in various areas) of the parties outside of SYL and thus demonstrate that the attempt to make things go smoothly without doubt did not succeed everywhere. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 670