Sunday July 26, 2026
Las Anod (AX) — Somalia’s Northeastern regional state parliament voted Sunday to strip five lawmakers of their parliamentary immunity, escalating a political rift one day after the MPs declared their resignation.
The measure passed with support from 57 lawmakers, meeting the two-thirds threshold set by Article 9 of parliament’s internal regulations.
The lawmakers who lost their immunity are Makhtal Said Mahmoud, Abdulsalam Abdullahi Abdirahman, Sadiq Jama Muse, Ahmed Ali Mohamed and Ahmed Abdi Hassan.
The administration alleged that the lawmakers had abandoned the political position and vision that formed the basis for establishing the Northeastern State.
The five MPs announced their departure Saturday night and described the decision as irreversible. Speaking for the group, Makhtal Said Mahmoud said: “I declare, on my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues, that we have fully resigned from the Northeastern Parliament. This decision is final.”
He said they stepped down because they believed the administration had strayed from its founding purpose.
“The reason we established the administration was to provide services and government processes that benefit the community, but it has become an administration below the level of a government agency,” he said. “The administration has fallen into the hands of Firdhiye and Abwaanka, and the community is treated as they wish.”
Makhtal added that the former lawmakers would disclose their new political direction and identify the city from which they planned to operate.
As of publication, the five lawmakers had not publicly addressed the allegations levelled against them.
Sunday’s action follows the Northeastern parliament’s recent removal of immunity from MP Fahiima Yusuf Abdullahi, widely known as Fahiima Quuje, after she said she was withdrawing from the Northeastern administration and backing North Western State of Somalia.
The latest resignations raise to six the total number of lawmakers who have departed the Northeastern parliament.
