MOGADISHU — Somalia has extended the mandates of its federal institutions to five years under a newly adopted constitution, effectively adding one year to current terms, Speaker of the House of the People Aden Mohamed Nur Madoobe announced Thursday. The move, unveiled at an iftar gathering in the capital, immediately deepened political fault lines in a country already grappling with drought and humanitarian strain.
Madoobe said parliament and other constitutional bodies would now operate under the revised charter, which replaces the 2012 provisional constitution that set four-year terms. “The parliament will operate for the duration specified in the current constitution, not the interim one,” he said. “The parliament and the constitutional institutions will operate for the period defined in the official constitution.”
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Lawmakers approved the changes Wednesday in a joint session of both houses of parliament, a divisive vote marked by a boycott from opposition-aligned MPs and political leaders, particularly those associated with the Somali Future Council and the administrations of Puntland State and Jubbaland. Government officials have framed the amendments as a long-overdue step to complete the constitutional framework and clarify the country’s federal system after years of ambiguity.
Opposition figures counter that the process lacked broad national consensus and accuse the federal government of using constitutional reform to prolong its tenure. MP Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame said critics had feared the outcome all along. “We feared that the real purpose of this amendment was to extend the term by one year,” he said, questioning the timing as the country contends with severe drought and humanitarian challenges.
Madoobe also used the occasion to urge a return to legislative business after weeks of turbulence inside the chamber. He called on lawmakers who had boycotted recent sittings to rejoin, announced an extension of parliamentary leave to accommodate Ramadan observance and reinstated MPs who had been suspended.
“In the remaining sessions, God willing, we will implement many laws that have not yet been achieved and complete work related to state-building,” he said. “The MPs who were suspended are like other MPs come; these suspensions are over.”
The five-year mandate fundamentally resets Somalia’s political calendar and could shape the run-up to the next elections and the wider state-building agenda. Supporters argue a longer horizon gives institutions more time to pass overdue laws and consolidate reforms, while critics warn that amending core rules without a broad compact among federal member states risks widening rifts and undermining trust in the process.
The vote and its aftermath underscore how questions over electoral models and constitutional authority continue to test Somalia’s fragile federal arrangement. Although the government says the revisions bring clarity, opposition leaders from Puntland State and Jubbaland have signaled that they view the changes as unilateral. The absence of a consensus framework heightens uncertainty over how the new timeline will be implemented and what it means for power-sharing between Mogadishu and regional administrations.
For now, parliament and other constitutional bodies will proceed under the revised provisions, with the speaker signaling a push to accelerate pending legislation once lawmakers reconvene after Ramadan. Whether the government can translate the extended mandate into greater stability — and whether skeptical regions will accept the new order — will determine if the constitutional overhaul closes an era of transition or opens a fresh phase of confrontation.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
