Somalia Approves Election Delay, Extends Parliament and Presidential Mandates

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s parliament has approved constitutional changes that extend the terms of the president and lawmakers and push back planned elections, according to Reuters and statements by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and parliamentary Speaker Adan Mohamed Nur (Adan Madobe).

Reuters reported that lawmakers voted to change the constitution and extend mandates to five years from four years, a move opponents said amounts to an unlawful term extension in a country where election timelines have repeatedly triggered political crises.

According to Reuters, 222 members of Somalia’s bicameral parliament voted by acclamation for the changes, out of a total of 329 lawmakers.

Mohamud described the move as a milestone, Reuters reported, saying the constitution had been completed after a long process.

Opposition party leaders, including former presidents and former prime ministers, rejected the amendment and called for elections to be held in May as previously planned, Reuters reported.

Election model and mandate dispute

Somalia has operated under a provisional constitution since 2012, and repeated attempts to revise it have exposed divisions over governance and power-sharing between the federal government and regional states, the Associated Press reported in January after disorder in parliament over proposed amendments.

The push for constitutional change has also been tied to a broader effort to move away from Somalia’s long-running indirect, clan-based political system. Reuters reported that Mohamud reached a deal in August with some opposition leaders stipulating that lawmakers would be directly elected in 2026 while the president would still be chosen by parliament.

Reuters also reported that a 2024 law restored universal suffrage ahead of the planned vote.

In Mogadishu, the shift toward direct voting has already been politically contentious. The Associated Press reported that residents of Somalia’s capital voted in a controversial local election in December 2025 that officials described as the first one-person, one-vote poll since 1969, after repeated postponements.

Parliamentary turmoil and fears of renewed crisis

The constitutional changes followed weeks of visible tension inside the federal parliament. On Jan. 28, the Associated Press reported that scuffles and shouting broke out in a joint session after the speaker attempted to advance proposed constitutional amendments that opposition lawmakers said would extend parliament’s mandate, forcing the session to be suspended.

In that January session, opposition lawmakers argued the proposed amendments would allow a two-year extension of parliament’s term, the AP reported. Video circulated on social media showed a physical confrontation involving Somalia’s internal security minister and an opposition lawmaker, AP reported, adding it was not immediately clear how the scuffle began.

The AP reported that a similar attempt to extend political mandates under former president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed triggered a constitutional crisis in 2021 and led to armed confrontations in Mogadishu, pushing the country toward wider unrest.

Somalia’s political disputes play out against a backdrop of persistent insecurity. Reuters reported that, while an African Union peacekeeping mission has pushed back the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, it still controls vast areas of countryside and remains capable of conducting regular strikes in major population centers.

Ali Musa
Axadle International Monitoring – Somalia