Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has defended his contested push for one-person, one-vote elections, accusing opposition leaders of trying to keep Somalia locked in an old indirect voting system as a constitutional crisis deepens.
In an interview with Dawan Media, Mohamud said his government wanted Somalia to move towards a democratic model based on direct public voting and registered political parties, rather than a system in which clan delegates, power brokers and elites bargain for dominance in politics.
“The opposition wants the country to remain in the old indirect election system,” he said.
His remarks followed months of rising tensions over constitutional amendments, election delays and the political future of a country still battling the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab insurgency.
The dispute has sharpened since parliament approved constitutional changes in March that critics say could extend Mohamud’s mandate by one year and delay national elections.
Opposition leaders have accused the government of using the direct-vote agenda to consolidate power, while Mohamud says his administration wants to complete reforms that previous governments repeatedly postponed.
He said the disagreement between the government and its rivals was not personal, but centred on the political direction Somalia should take.
Mohamud said the country must move from politics built around individuals to a system led by formal parties that compete openly and answer to voters.
He argued that political parties were essential to democracy, accountability and transparent competition.
Election delays
Somalia has not held a universal suffrage national election for decades, relying instead on indirect models in which clan representatives and lawmakers choose leaders.
“The last one-person, one-vote election in Somalia was almost 60 years ago,” Mohamud said.
He said the country was still rebuilding the experience, capacity and institutions needed to organise such a vote after decades of civil war, state collapse and insurgency.
The president said the electoral commission drew up a timetable and budget after its formation, but new financial, logistical and technical challenges emerged once preparations began.
He said the costs and requirements proved greater than officials had first expected.
Mohamud praised the electoral commission, describing its members as young Somalis working in difficult conditions, and denied opposition claims that Villa Somalia interferes in its decisions.
“The commission came through a legal process, and parliament approved it. Its decisions are its own responsibility,” he said.
He acknowledged delays but insisted they were not politically motivated.
Mohamud said the government would continue supporting the commission to ensure planned elections take place transparently and in line with the law.
Somalia held a local one-person, one-vote election in Mogadishu in December, the first such vote in decades, but opposition figures rejected it as unilateral and flawed.
The government hailed the vote as proof that direct elections remain possible despite insecurity and political division.
Constitution row
The president also rejected calls to return to Somalia’s 2012 provisional constitution, saying the country could not simply revive that text in its original form.
“The 2012 constitution is history. It is there for us, but we have moved beyond it,” he said.
Somalia adopted the provisional constitution in 2012 as part of efforts to rebuild federal institutions after two decades of state collapse.
But the country never completed the document through a national referendum, and disputes over federal powers, the electoral model and the balance between the presidency, parliament and regional states remain unresolved.
Mohamud said his government had not created a new constitution, but had carried out the review that state institutions had a legal duty to complete.
He said previous parliaments repeatedly delayed the process and passed responsibility to the next legislature.
His administration, he said, would not do the same.
“Anyone who believes an article should be changed must bring a legal and public-interest reason,” he said.
He said the constitution itself sets out the procedure for amendments and that Somalia could make corrections or further revisions through that mechanism.
But he insisted that returning wholesale to the 2012 provisional text was not realistic.
Street violence
The crisis has already spilt into the streets.
Government forces and opposition-linked armed groups clashed in Mogadishu earlier this month ahead of a planned anti-government rally, forcing residents to flee some neighbourhoods and prompting international calls for restraint.
The United Nations, the African Union and Western partners have urged Somali leaders to resolve their disputes through dialogue and avoid further violence.
Mohamud said he had repeatedly asked opposition leaders to present an alternative to the government’s election plan, but that they had not produced a clear proposal.
He said the government remained ready for debate on elections and the constitution, provided the discussion rested on legal and political arguments.
But he made clear that his administration would not abandon the direct-vote agenda.
Disputes over electoral rules have repeatedly disrupted Somalia’s political cycle, with missed deadlines often leading to tense extensions, elite negotiations and last-minute compromises.
Mohamud said the country now had to break that cycle.
He argued that direct elections and political parties were the only way to move Somalia towards a more stable and accountable political order.
