(1) In the Federal Republic of Somalia, the state is composed of two levels of government: (a) The Federal Government Level;; (b) The Federal Member States Level, which is comprised of the Federal Member State government, and the local governments.
(2) No single region can stand alone. Until such time as a region merges with another region(s) to form a new Federal Member State, a region shall be directly administered by the Federal Government for a maximum period of two years.