Firdhiye Wins Leadership of Somalia’s New Northeastern State in Las Anod Vote Amid Allegations of Federal Interference
How the vote unfolded
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Las Anod, a city that has lived at the edge of maps and the center of Somalia’s political crosswinds, delivered a decisive vote on Saturday. Abdikadir Ahmed Ali Firdhiye, a former interim leader of the territory known locally as SSC-Khatumo, was elected president of the newly formed Northeastern state after a tense and closely watched contest.
The ballot shifted dramatically between rounds. Abdirisaq Khaliif Ahmed, seen as Firdhiye’s main challenger, withdrew after Jamal Mohamed Hassan, who remained in the first round, swung his votes behind Firdhiye. The transfer effectively shut the door on Khaliif’s path to a second round and cleared the way for Firdhiye to consolidate support.
In a parallel vote, Abdirashid Yusuf Jibriil — a former speaker of the Northeastern State Parliament and a poet with a political following that stretches across clan lines — emerged as the likely vice president, according to officials involved in the process. Jibriil, a close ally of Firdhiye, is widely expected to be confirmed as final tallies are formalized.
Allegations and reactions
The celebrations in parts of Las Anod were tempered by controversy. Opposition figures accused Somalia’s Federal Government of tilting the playing field, charging that senior officials actively campaigned for Firdhiye and used state resources to sway lawmakers. “The government’s interference undermines the credibility and transparency of this election and could derail the process of forming a viable administration,” one opposition candidate told local media. The federal authorities in Mogadishu have not responded to the allegations.
Such complaints are not new in Somalia’s patchwork of power. Over the past decade, political contests from Baidoa to Garowe have been shadowed by claims of interference, a familiar strain in a system where indirect elections hinge on alliances, patronage, and the ability to marshal consensus among elite stakeholders. Saturday’s vote suggests Las Anod is now part of that same chorus — and that the stakes are high enough for national actors to pay close attention.
Why Las Anod matters
To understand what happened here is to understand what has been happening across northern Somalia. Las Anod sits in the Sool region, long contested between the self-declared Republic of North Western State of Somalia and Northeastern State, a federal member state of Somalia. In early 2023, the city became the epicenter of some of the worst fighting seen in years between North Western State of Somalia forces and local militias aligned with SSC-Khatumo — an umbrella that draws its name from Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn.
The clashes killed scores and uprooted families. By the middle of last year, aid groups estimated that more than 200,000 people were displaced from and around Las Anod. In February 2023, local elders announced they no longer recognized administration by Hargeisa and instead sought a path within Somalia’s federal system. Firdhiye, then an interim leader, helped knit together a fragile administration out of those wartime trenches and camp tents.
Saturday’s vote, in that context, is not just an election. It’s a statement of intent. The new Northeastern state — still solidifying its institutions, boundaries, and recognition — is asking for a seat at Somalia’s federal table, testing how far center–periphery accommodation can stretch in a country already home to several federal member states with varying degrees of cohesion.
A leader with alliances — and questions to answer
Firdhiye’s victory was expected by many on the ground. He built alliances over two years of interim stewardship, leaning on traditional elders, militia commanders, civil society leaders, and diaspora networks. The momentum carried him through a contest where numbers shifted quickly but loyalties had been months in the making.
His challenge now is to turn wartime legitimacy into peacetime governance. Can he and his intended deputy, Abdirashid Yusuf Jibriil, manage security, reconcile rival factions, and stabilize a tax base in a region still grieving and rebuilding? Can they do so without alienating neighboring Northeastern State or inflaming tensions with North Western State of Somalia, which still claims the territory?
Regional and national implications
The implications ripple beyond Las Anod. Somalia’s federal map is a work in progress — lines drawn in sand and memory. A consolidated Northeastern state under Firdhiye will test federal–member state relations at a delicate time, as Mogadishu pushes economic reforms, wrangles over constitutional changes, and faces a still-tenuous security transition from African Union peacekeepers to national forces.
For North Western State of Somalia, the vote in Las Anod presents a political headache. Hargeisa has long treated Sool and parts of Sanaag as integral to its self-declared borders. SSC-Khatumo’s push into Somalia’s federal orbit complicates that claim, and with it, the narrative of a stable, consensual North Western State of Somalia path to recognition. For Northeastern State, which has deep kinship and political ties in the area, the emergence of a neighboring administration aligned with Mogadishu’s preferences could reshape alliances and competition along its southern flank.
On the ground: a city waiting for normalcy
In Las Anod, the measure of success will be quieter — and painfully practical. Schools fully reopening. Clinics stocked with medicine. The return of families who fled shelling and snipers. Traders along the main road, who once closed at midday for fear of stray bullets, want what traders everywhere want: predictability, and a sense that tomorrow will look a little like today.
The diaspora, a lifeline for this region, will be watching for signals to invest. Will roads be cleared and secured? Will contractors be paid on time? Will local courts function and handle disputes without coercion? In Somalia, where remittances regularly outstrip foreign aid, those questions carry as much weight as any political speech.
What happens next
In the coming days, attention will shift to cabinet formation, outreach to skeptical factions, and the standing up of core institutions: interior, finance, security, and justice. Engagement with Mogadishu will be crucial — both for budget support and for political recognition that brings the Northeastern state into national planning and security coordination.
Diplomats and aid agencies will likely calibrate operations around Las Anod based on early signals from the new leadership. That may include support for displaced families, demining and unexploded ordnance removal, and programs to restart services stalled by months of conflict. The question, for regional partners and Somalis alike, is whether Saturday’s vote marks an end to one chapter of turmoil or the beginning of a new contest over authority and identity.
A fragile mandate, a crowded road
Las Anod’s clock is not the world’s clock. It ticks to the rhythm of elder councils and evening tea, to the memory of the year the market burned and the season the rains failed. The new administration inherits more than a mandate; it inherits a ledger of grievances and hopes. As the dust settles on the vote, the work begins: to build institutions strong enough to hold the weight of a community that has already carried so much.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
