Somalia: Supreme Court declares presidential, parliamentary mandates expired and orders elections within 90 days
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Supreme Court has invalidated actions taken by the country’s top federal institutions after ruling that the mandates of parliament, the president and the government expired in 2026. The court ordered political actors to agree on an electoral framework within 30 days and hold elections within 90 days.
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The five-member Constitutional Division issued the ruling Thursday, Nov. 5, in response to a petition from former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. His case challenged both the process used to amend the country’s 2012 Provisional Constitution and the legal effect of those amendments.
The court considered two central questions: whether the amendment process complied with Articles 132, 133 and 136 of the 2012 constitution, and whether measures adopted under the amendments — especially the extension of the mandates of federal institutions — had legal force.
Court rejects challenge to amendment process
The court dismissed the first part of Sharif’s petition, which disputed the constitutionality of the amendment process. It found that the former president did not have legal standing to bring that challenge under Article 86 of the Provisional Constitution.
It accepted the second part of the petition, however, allowing the challenge to proceed against measures linked to the constitutional changes, including the extension of mandates held by elected federal institutions.
In its decision, the court said any constitutional amendment that creates new terms of office must clearly specify whether it applies to institutions already serving or only to institutions elected after the amendment takes effect.
When an amendment does not expressly settle that question, the new term cannot automatically be imposed on sitting institutions, the court ruled. Their original mandates therefore remain applicable.
On that basis, the court found that federal institutions continued to operate under the four-year terms set out in the 2012 Provisional Constitution, because the 2026 amendments did not explicitly extend the new term to institutions already in office.
The mandates of both chambers of the Federal Parliament expired on April 14, 2026, the court said. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term ended on May 15, 2026.
The court also concluded that the federal government’s mandate ended on April 14, 2026. Its authority, the ruling said, flows from parliament, which holds the constitutional power to grant the government a vote of confidence and supervise its work.
After those dates, the institutions no longer had authority to exercise their constitutional or legal powers, according to the judgment.
The court consequently declared all actions taken by the institutions after their mandates expired unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void.
Court orders political agreement and elections within 90 days
The judgment also examined whether the federal government could continue operating after its mandate had ended.
The court identified the Federal Government as the only institution constitutionally empowered to administer a caretaker government, while limiting that authority to routine state affairs.
It said a caretaker government may not make decisions or take measures that go beyond ordinary day-to-day administrative duties.
The Supreme Court instructed all parties involved in the electoral process to reach agreement on a workable election framework within 30 days.
It further ordered that elections take place within 90 days.
Issued in Mogadishu on Nov. 5, 2026, the ruling was signed by five judges led by Justice Salah Sheikh Ibrahim Dhiblawe.
AXADLETM
