Southwest to Hold Parliamentary and Local Elections on April 28, Electoral Body Says

Tuesday April 7, 2026

Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission has set April 28 as the date for elections to the Southwest State House of Representatives and 11 district local councils, opening the way for the region to choose a president and lawmakers through a one-person, one-vote system within 45 days.

Commission chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan announced the schedule Monday in Baidoa, framing the ballot as a major milestone in widening public participation and strengthening democratic governance in the Southwest.

“These elections are an important step in ensuring public participation and the development of democracy in the Southwest,” Hassan said.

Hassan said the commission will soon hold consultations in Baidoa with local authorities, traditional elders, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to complete preparations for the polls. Those talks, he said, will center on logistics, voter outreach and coordination with regional institutions to help ensure the vote is credible and orderly.

He emphasized that the election’s success will depend on support from the public and cooperation from regional officials. In his view, the Southwest could serve as a test case for Somalia’s broader plan to introduce one-person, one-vote elections nationwide.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, speaking separately in Baidoa, said the Southwest would be the first federal member state to hold direct elections under the federal government’s reform agenda.

“The government is committed to ensuring that the Somali people enjoy their constitutional right to direct elections,” the president said, outlining plans to extend universal suffrage beyond Mogadishu.

For years, Somalia has used an indirect clan-based system in which traditional elders selected regional lawmakers, who then chose the president. Although successive governments have promised a shift to universal suffrage, insecurity and political disputes have repeatedly stalled those efforts.

The upcoming Southwest vote comes after recent political shifts in Baidoa, where federal authorities took control following clashes and later installed an interim administration. Officials say the direct elections are part of a wider push to stabilize the region and embed democratic institutions more firmly.

If the schedule holds, the April 28 polls would stand among the most consequential electoral tests Somalia has faced in decades, measuring the country’s ability to move from negotiated power-sharing toward direct voting at the regional level.