Somalia’s constitution and federal intervention in regional state affairs explained

Saturday April 4, 2026

Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s federal takeover of Baidoa and the swift naming of an interim administration in Southwest State have ignited a bitter constitutional showdown, with supporters of the move pointing to newly amended provisions and critics insisting the action breaches both federal and regional law.

Federal government forces, working alongside fighters aligned with Southwest opposition groups, seized Baidoa after intense clashes with regional troops. Southwest President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen stepped down on March 30 and later left for Nairobi. Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre then appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi to serve as interim leader of the state.

The intervention has raised fundamental questions about whether the federal government has the legal authority to assume control of a federal member state and appoint a transitional administration.

Mukhtar Mohamed Guuleed, a federal lawmaker who supports the intervention, told BBC Somali that Articles 73 and 75 of the amended constitution give the federal government the power to act in exceptional circumstances.

“The amended constitution, Article 73, Paragraph One and Article 75, Paragraph One, allow the federal government to intervene if there is a threat to the security, safety and independence of the country and if there is a perceived threat to the people of those areas,” he said.

Guuleed said Southwest had already tipped into instability, pointing to defections at district level and armed confrontations.

“A political, civil and military uprising emerged,” he said, referring to developments in Buurhakaba, Qansahdheere, Hudur, Waajid and Bardale districts, followed by fighting in Baidoa. He said those events created the conditions that led the administration to announce it had broken ties with the federal government. He added that Article 73 allows federal intervention when national security or territorial integrity is threatened, and when a regional state faces circumstances it cannot handle alone.

Critics, however, are questioning both whether the amended constitution applies and whether it can be invoked in this case at all.

Prof. Abdi Ismail Samatar, a member of the Upper House of Parliament, argued that laws cannot be applied retroactively to officials who were already in office before the amendments were adopted.

“When a law is passed and changed, that law cannot be implemented by people who held positions before that day,” he said. “It is not acceptable anywhere in the world to judge actions taken before a law existed using that new law.”

Samatar also criticized the deployment of federal troops to Baidoa, saying broader consultation with parliamentary representatives, especially those from the affected areas, could have helped prevent the escalation.

Political analyst Mohamed Mukhtaar Ibrahim acknowledged that the amended constitution does contain provisions permitting federal intervention, but said the issue lies in how those provisions are being carried out.

“The article exists in the amended constitution,” he said. “But the regional governments were not given the opportunity to adapt their own constitutions to align with it.”

He warned that unless federal and regional legal frameworks are brought into line, enforcement could deepen institutional tensions.

The legal picture is further muddied by gaps in Southwest’s own constitution. It says the vice president takes over if the president resigns, but the state had no sitting vice president when Laftagareen left office.

“When it comes to Southwest, the vice presidency was not in place,” Ibrahim said. “Since both the president and the speaker left office, the constitutional succession is unclear.”

Opposition leaders have rejected both the federal move and the amended constitution itself.

The Somali Future Council called the appointment of an interim leader unconstitutional and said it weakens the federal system. Former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said there is no legal basis for removing a federal member state administration and replacing it with a transitional authority directed from Mogadishu.

Federal lawmaker and opposition leader Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame said the Southwest constitution requires a new presidential election within 30 days after a resignation.

“There is absolutely no legal basis for the Federal Government to assume control or administer the state,” he said.

The dispute underscores the fragility of Somalia’s still-evolving federal system, where constitutional revisions, regional autonomy and security concerns are colliding in unresolved ways. As lawyers, politicians and analysts advance competing readings of the law, the Southwest crisis is shaping up as a major test of how authority is divided between Mogadishu and the federal member states.

With files from the BBC Somali Service