UN mission, UK back Somalia’s plan for inclusive election talks as tensions mount
Friday January 23, 2026
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MOGADISHU — The United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS) has welcomed the Somali federal government’s decision to convene a national consultative forum and formally invite the Somali Future Council, a leading opposition alliance, as political tensions rise over the country’s electoral timeline.
In a statement Wednesday, the UN mission reaffirmed its support for an inclusive political dialogue aimed at reaching broad consensus on elections before constitutional mandates expire in the coming months.
“We reaffirm our support for an inclusive dialogue that seeks to achieve broad consensus on participatory, transparent elections before constitutional mandates expire,” the mission said. “We encourage the Future Council to respond positively to the invitation and urge all parties to engage constructively in the upcoming talks.”
The United Kingdom also welcomed the initiative, with the British Embassy in Somalia describing the planned forum as an important step toward political stability.
“We welcome the Federal Government of Somalia’s announcement of an inclusive national consultative conference in Mogadishu this February,” the embassy said. “We encourage the Somali Future Council to participate in the process and urge all parties to reach consensus on elections for Somalia’s stability and prosperity.”
The federal government has invited the Somali Future Council to a multi-day national conference scheduled to open Feb. 1 in Mogadishu. Officials say the talks will focus on accelerating discussions on Somalia’s political direction, particularly electoral arrangements, amid warnings of a looming constitutional and political impasse.
According to the government, the conference aims to strengthen national unity and social cohesion, support a democratic process grounded in consultation and compromise, and ensure that citizens’ voices play a central role in shaping the country’s future.
The invitation follows an opposition-led conference held last month in Kismayo, where the Somali Future Council urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration to convene talks by Jan. 20 to address electoral models, timelines and mechanisms for reaching a political agreement acceptable to all stakeholders.
Opposition figures have warned that delays or unilateral decisions on elections could deepen political divisions and risk instability. The federal government, for its part, has maintained that dialogue remains the preferred and only viable path to resolving disputes and safeguarding Somalia’s fragile political transition.
Somalia is under mounting domestic and international pressure to agree on an election framework as current mandates near their end, with concerns that failure to reach consensus could undermine security gains and stall broader state-building efforts. The stakes for the talks are high: a broadly accepted roadmap could help consolidate recent progress, while prolonged deadlock risks triggering a governance vacuum and renewed confrontation among political actors.
Diplomats and regional observers say the coming weeks will be pivotal. With the UN and the UK urging broad participation, attention now turns to whether the Future Council will formally accept the government’s invitation and whether the conference can produce a credible, inclusive blueprint for elections that addresses sequencing, timelines and safeguards against unilateral changes.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
