Puntland State State of Somalia Minister Urges Dialogue with Somali Future Council on Elections

KISMAYO, Somalia — A senior Puntland State official urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to embrace the outcomes of the Somali Future Council conference that concluded in Kismayo on Saturday, as the newly formed opposition alliance set a Jan. 20, 2026, deadline for inclusive talks on Somalia’s elections.

Abdifatah Mohamed Abdinur, the state minister for the Puntland State presidency, called on the president to place national interests above personal considerations and warned against actions that could deepen political rifts.

“It is unfortunate that the president does not see the positive aspects of the Kismayo conference and instead appears to be dividing the Somali people,” Abdinur said at the closing session. “He behaves as if Kismayo is a foreign place to him and as if the people gathered here know nothing except what he alone knows. This was not what was expected of the president. He should have welcomed the conference and hoped for positive outcomes, but instead he is steering the country in the wrong direction.”

Abdinur also cautioned against clinging to power. “There is life after leaving office, and he must understand that power cannot be maintained forever from a chair,” he said.

In a communiqué issued after meetings held Dec. 18–20, the Somali Future Council called on Mohamud to convene all national political stakeholders within one month, setting Jan. 20, 2026, as a deadline to reach consensus on timely elections. If the call is ignored, the alliance said it would pursue steps to organize an alternative electoral process aimed at preventing a constitutional vacuum, security breakdown and the threat of terrorism.

The Kismayo gathering drew a broad slate of opposition leaders and former officials, underscoring the coalition’s intent to press for a unified roadmap on Somalia’s electoral calendar and political settlement.

• Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni
• Jubaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madobe)
• Former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
• Former Prime Ministers Mohamed Hussein Rooble, Hassan Ali Khayre, and Abdi Farah Shirdoon (Saacid)
• Former minister Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame

Organizers said more than 1,500 participants, including about 80 journalists, attended the Kismayo conference. Opposition leaders discussed Somalia’s electoral process alongside broader political, security, economic and humanitarian challenges. They accused the administration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of governance failures and policies that have fostered division and alienation — allegations the presidency has not responded to in this communiqué.

The ultimatum places fresh pressure on Villa Somalia as political stakeholders seek clarity on timelines and mechanisms for the next phase of national elections. The opposition’s warning of an alternative process reflects mounting concern over an impasse that leaders fear could open the door to institutional paralysis and security risks if left unresolved.

Abdinur’s remarks — delivered in Kismayo at the close of the Somali Future Council conference — capture the sharpening rhetoric around Somalia’s political direction. The minister’s appeal for dialogue and restraint aligns with the conference’s call for an inclusive forum to bridge differences and avert fragmentation across federal institutions and member states.

With the Jan. 20 deadline now set, attention turns to whether the presidency will convene a broad-based summit that brings together federal authorities, regional leaders and opposition figures to agree on a path toward credible, timely and widely accepted elections.

By Ali Musa

Axadle Times international–Monitoring.