Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Somalia’s opposition bloc on Monday rejected any extension of federal mandates, deepening a constitutional standoff a day after the president signed a disputed new charter into law.
The Somali Future Council warned that the move was pushing the fragile Horn of Africa nation closer to a fresh political crisis.
In a statement, the council, which includes major opposition figures and leaders from the semi-autonomous states of Puntland and Jubaland, said it remained bound by Somalia’s 2012 provisional constitution.
It said it would not recognise any attempt to keep federal institutions in office beyond their original terms.
The bloc noted that parliament’s mandate ends on 14 April 2026 and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term expires on 15 May 2026, warning that any overstay would have no legal basis.
The council urged federal leaders to step back from moves that could fuel political or security tensions, calling for adherence to the existing constitution and a negotiated agreement on upcoming elections.
It also appealed to the regional states of Hirshabelle, South West, and Galmudug to hold their own overdue elections, underlining the legitimacy questions now hanging over Somalia’s entire federal system.
Mohamud signed the new federal constitution on Sunday at the presidential palace in Mogadishu after it was approved by both chambers of parliament.
The presidency presented the move as the culmination of a long review process, saying the document would serve as the legal basis for stronger institutions and a more democratic order.
Mandate dispute
Rather than settling a debate that has dogged Somali politics for years, the signing has sharpened an already bitter row.
Critics argue that the revised charter effectively extends the mandates of the president and parliament while delaying elections that should proceed under the existing framework.
The changes could push both institutions beyond their previously scheduled expiry dates, with elections likely to be delayed because there is still no agreed electoral framework.
Somalia’s 2012 provisional constitution set the president’s term at four years and established a post-conflict system in which lawmakers, rather than the public, elect the head of state.
That arrangement has remained in place for more than a decade as efforts to finalise the constitution stalled amid disputes over federalism and the balance of power.
Mohamud and his allies say the overhaul is part of a broader push to move Somalia away from indirect, clan-based voting and towards universal suffrage.
But the government’s reform drive has run into Somalia’s chronic insecurity, weak institutions, and deep mistrust among political rivals.
Federal fault lines
The latest dispute has exposed widening cracks in Somalia’s fragile federal order.
Puntland, one of the country’s semi-autonomous states, cut ties with Mogadishu in March 2024 over an earlier round of constitutional amendments.
It said it would act independently until voters approved major changes in a nationwide referendum that included Puntland.
Jubaland has taken a similarly hard line, accusing the federal government of pressing ahead without the consent of regional authorities.
Those tensions were already on display in January, when a joint parliamentary session descended into chaos as lawmakers traded blows over the proposed amendments.
The Somali Future Council argues that the process itself was flawed, saying revisions of such magnitude require broader national agreement and should not be pushed through by a parliamentary majority alone.
In Somalia, the constitution has never been merely a legal text, but a delicate political bargain among elites, regions, and clans.
Shadow of 2021
Monday’s statement repeatedly invoked the memory of Somalia’s 2021 mandate crisis.
An attempt by then-president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmajo, to extend his term by two years split the security forces and triggered armed clashes in Mogadishu.
The violence displaced tens of thousands of people as rival forces took up positions in parts of the capital.
That episode remains one of the starkest warnings in modern Somali politics.
In a country where constitutional arguments often overlap with clan loyalties and security structures, disputes over mandates can quickly spiral into armed conflict.
The confrontation comes at a time when Somalia is already under intense strain.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group remains a potent insurgent force despite military pressure from Somali troops and African Union-backed operations.
The country is also grappling with a worsening humanitarian emergency.
The United Nations says 4.8 million people in Somalia will need humanitarian assistance in 2026, with 6.5 million facing acute hunger because of severe drought.
The World Food Programme has warned that life-saving food assistance could halt by April without urgent new funding, raising the stakes of any political confrontation that disrupts governance or security.
For Mohamud’s supporters, the new constitution is a historic breakthrough that ends a provisional era.
But for his opponents, it is an exclusionary rewrite of the rules that threatens to plunge Somalia into another dangerous contest over who governs, under what law, and for how long.
