elections

Puntland State backs federal-led local council elections, warns against interference MOGADISHU, Somalia — Puntland State’s Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation on Tuesday said local council elections in Somalia’s northeastern state will proceed under the leadership of the Federal Electoral and Boundaries Commission, signaling a renewed push for direct polls despite fraught federal–state relations. In a statement, the ministry said it fully supports implementation of the vote in line with Articles 104 and…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The first phase of high-stakes talks between Somalia’s Future Council and the federal government concluded Thursday in Mogadishu, signaling a cautious push toward election consensus as negotiators seek to reduce political uncertainty ahead of the country’s next polls. Held at Villa Somalia, the meeting centered on the structure and scope of upcoming elections — a critical question that has shaped political negotiations for months. Officials said both sides recognized the urgency of striking a…

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Tuesday hosted opposition leaders, including members of the Somali Future Council, for a luncheon in Mogadishu, signaling a renewed push to break a political deadlock over elections and constitutional reforms. The talks follow a federal invitation to a National Consultation Conference intended to ease rifts between Villa Somalia and opposition-aligned regional leaders. Discussions centered on the electoral process, disputed constitutional…

Somalia’s elections show the model isn’t the problem — integrity is For a decade, Somalia’s reform debate has framed elections as a technical puzzle: if indirect voting disappoints, move to direct elections; if elites pick delegates, expand to one-person, one-vote. The country’s recent experience — from the 2016/17 and 2021/22 indirect contests to Mogadishu’s December 2025 local elections — points to a harder truth. When rules are bent, institutions are captured and state resources are weaponized, neither indirect nor…

Bangladesh’s opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, appeared on course for a sweeping victory in national elections, with television projections showing the party vaulting past the 150-seat mark needed for a parliamentary majority in the first vote since a deadly 2024 uprising. The projections, based on partial counts late Thursday, indicated that Jamaat-e-Islami and its Islamist-led allies had secured 63 seats — a sharp surge from previous performances but well short of an outright win. Official…

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Wednesday set April 2026 for state-level local council elections, a timetable that places the vote about a month before President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s current term ends and intensifies pressure on leaders to settle the country’s electoral rules. Elections slated for April 2026, weeks before President Mohamud’s term expires Voter registration to resume in Baidoa, Jowhar and Dhusamareb; 12 new districts added, bringing total to 35 Talks…

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling camp swept to a historic election win, securing 316 of 465 seats for her Liberal Democratic Party and, with coalition partner Japan Innovation Party (Ishin), a commanding 352-seat supermajority in the lower house. The result paves the way for her promised tax cuts and a defense buildup aimed at countering China, even as those plans unsettle financial markets and strain regional ties. “This election involved major policy shifts — particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal…

Somalia’s Parliament Debates Federalism Revisions as 19 Lawmakers Are Suspended MOGADISHU — Somalia’s bicameral Parliament held a joint session Saturday to debate proposed amendments to the Provisional Constitution, zeroing in on federalism and power-sharing even as tensions flared over the process with the suspension of 19 lawmakers earlier in the day. The sitting — the seventh of the current parliamentary term and the 11th joint meeting of the Upper House and the House of the People — focused on Chapter Four of the draft…

Somalia’s next election is unlikely to be a direct, one person, one vote contest. Time constraints and the limits of the current federal institutions point instead to another indirect vote. The decisive question is not the model, but whether the process can meet a minimum threshold of credibility. After two troubled cycles in 2016/17 and 2021/22, an integrity-first approach is the only path to an indirect election that voters, candidates and institutions can accept. Those past votes did not fail because indirect elections…

Somalia’s leaders pledge unity, faster local elections and intensified security after National Consultative Council meeting Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026 MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s top political leaders reaffirmed national unity, accelerated election timelines and stepped up security operations against extremist groups during a virtual session of the National Consultative Council chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday. In a statement after the meeting, the council endorsed the Federal Government’s…