Dispute erupts in Baidoa over parliamentary seat HOP204 election

Wednesday April 8, 2026

Mogadishu (AX) — A fresh political row has broken out over seat HOP204 in Somalia’s House of the People after incumbent lawmaker Isaaq Ali Subag said the post was put to vote while he was still serving in office and had never stepped down.

The indirect election, held Tuesday in Baidoa, produced Minister of Ports and Maritime Transport Abdulqadir Mohamed Nur Jama as the winner with 96 votes from delegates. But the result has quickly raised questions about whether the seat was properly declared vacant and whether parliament’s procedures were followed to the letter.

“I was still occupying seat HOP204 when I learned that an election for my position was being conducted in Baidoa,” he said. “A sitting member of parliament who has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to perform his duties cannot legally have his seat declared vacant.”

Subag said he was paid his parliamentary salary as recently as March, which he argues shows he remained an active lawmaker. He also accused unnamed parties of trying to pressure him into surrendering the seat for Minister Nur, including through financial inducements.

“I was not offered a fixed amount, but I refused all attempts to buy my resignation,” he said.

Subag, who has also served as a minister in Southwest State since 2023, rejected suggestions that his regional executive role gave grounds for replacing him in the federal legislature. He pointed out that other federal lawmakers also hold positions in regional administrations. He said he intends to take the matter to court.

Those backing the Baidoa election say Subag missed two straight parliamentary sessions, allowing the seat to be declared vacant under attendance rules. In their view, the chamber’s bylaws permit such action when a lawmaker is absent without justification.

Subag pushed back, saying the relevant provisions of the provisional constitution and parliamentary rules were not properly applied before the seat was opened for election.

Neither the electoral commission nor the federal government has responded publicly to his allegations.

The controversy expanded further after a group of federal lawmakers issued a statement rejecting the Baidoa vote as unlawful. They said the process breached Article 59 of the provisional constitution and weakened parliamentary order.

“This issue threatens the country’s democratic process and demonstrates that constitutional institutions are being used for personal gain,” the statement said.

The current term of the House of the People is set to end on April 14, 2026. A recently approved constitutional amendment extends that mandate by one year, though Puntland State, Jubbaland and several opposition figures have rejected the extension.

Minister Nur is reportedly considering a run for speaker of the House of the People, while current Speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur Madoobe is said to be contemplating a bid for the presidency of Southwest State. When asked about interest in the speakership, Minister Nur declined to comment.

The dispute recalls a similar episode last year, when lawmaker Dr. Abdullahi Hashi Abiib lost his seat after missing two consecutive sessions. At the time, Speaker Madoobe said attendance rules had been violated, while Abiib, a government critic, said security threats kept him from returning to Mogadishu.