Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s opposition lawmaker Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame has rejected the electoral timetable announced for the 2027 parliamentary and presidential elections, warning that moving ahead without a comprehensive political agreement could intensify divisions and revive conflict.
Abdirahman Abdishakur, who leads the Wadajir political party, said Thursday that the decision threatens efforts to build political consensus as Somalia confronts persistent security, economic and humanitarian pressures.
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In a Facebook post, he said the electoral dispute risked destabilizing a country already facing armed conflict, terrorism, hunger and poverty, alongside the dangers posed by flooding and changing regional geopolitical dynamics.
The lawmaker accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of failing to fully account for the country’s difficulties. He also warned that proceeding with the proposed timetable could produce competing claims over the legitimacy of Somalia’s leadership.
Despite deep political disputes over the past 15 years, he said Somalia had avoided rival claims to the presidency. The current confrontation, he cautioned, could instead undermine the foundations of the state.
Abdirahman Abdishakur called on Hassan Sheikh to reject decisions that could push Somalia back toward the political fragmentation and violence of the 1990s.
“The dispute could be resolved through dialogue and an electoral agreement accepted by the country’s major political stakeholders,” he noted.
The opposition leader further cautioned that holding elections without broad political backing could carry serious political and historical consequences. He urged the president to place national unity and negotiations at the center of the process.
His comments followed an announcement by Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, chairperson of the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC), that elections for both chambers of Somalia’s Federal Parliament would take place on April 15, 2027, with the presidential vote scheduled for May 15.
The commission said it had set the timetable in accordance with the country’s constitutional and electoral laws.
The schedule was issued as disagreements continue among the federal government, opposition parties and several federal member states over the electoral framework and the mandates of national institutions.
Puntland State, Jubbaland and several opposition groups have rejected the revised Constitution, arguing that Somalia’s political process should continue to rely on the 2012 provisional Constitution.
Negotiations aimed at settling the dispute have so far failed to deliver an agreement acceptable to all parties, casting doubt on whether the announced elections can proceed with broad political participation.
