Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Somalia’s parliament and executive will serve an extended five-year term under a newly approved constitution, the lower house speaker confirmed Thursday, cementing a mandate extension that threatens to deepen the country’s political crisis.
The sweeping changes, passed in Mogadishu on Wednesday, officially increase presidential and parliamentary mandates from four to five years.
Mohamud’s current term was scheduled to expire on May 15, 2026, while parliament’s mandate was set to end on April 14, 2026.
Under the revised constitutional framework, both institutions will now remain in power until 2027, paving the way for delayed elections.
Lower House Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur, known as Adan Madobe, explicitly confirmed the extension during an evening gathering hosted by the president.
“The parliament will serve the term outlined by the newly approved constitution,” Madobe said.
“Parliament and constitutional institutions will work for the period specified by the official constitution, not the provisional one.”
‘Come back brothers’
The constitutional overhaul has already triggered a fierce backlash from opposition figures who accuse the government of forcing through a divisive process.
In an apparent olive branch, Madobe announced the lifting of suspensions against dissenting lawmakers who had disrupted or boycotted the process.
“Your suspension is over, the constitution is approved, come back brothers,” he said, noting that parliament was now in recess.
However, the speaker issued a stern warning to opposition politicians, saying that rejecting the new charter amounted to rejecting Somali statehood.
He also urged President Mohamud to swiftly implement the new constitution, stressing that it should not just “sit on a shelf”.
Despite the controversy, Mohamud has celebrated the parliamentary approval as a “historic day”.
He declared that the Horn of Africa nation had officially overcome its decades-long transitional period.
In a national address, Mohamud said the achievement removes a 14-year provisional status that had acted as a “legal shackle”.
He added that the previous framework had obstructed the country’s political, security and economic stability.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre echoed the sentiment.
He called the ratification a victory that places the Somali state on a “firm legal foundation”.
Fierce opposition
But the move has infuriated the opposition, who argue that the process violated parliamentary bylaws and lacked the required two-thirds majority in both houses.
The Somali Future Council, an opposition grouping, firmly rejected the amendments.
It alleged political pressure, intimidation and vote-buying, and said dozens of lawmakers were barred from participating in debates.
The opposition warned that Mohamud was driving an agenda that deepens political divisions as the country faces severe security threats from the Al-Shabaab insurgency.
They vowed to recognise only the 2012 Provisional Constitution until the country adopts a lawful and inclusive process.
The parliamentary decision is also likely to widen an already serious rift between Mogadishu and key federal member states.
Puntland and Jubbaland have both strongly opposed parts of the constitutional review process.
Puntland has maintained that major amendments must go to a nationwide referendum.
Jubbaland also remains at odds with the federal government over broader electoral disputes.
The widening split has raised fears among analysts that the constitutional reform could become a new source of institutional paralysis.
Election fears
Somalia has operated under a provisional constitution since 2012, following decades of conflict and state collapse after the fall of autocrat Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Efforts to finalise the framework have repeatedly stalled amid disputes over power-sharing, the federal model and the transition to a direct electoral system.
Opponents have linked the constitutional push directly to the electoral timetable, warning that extending terms could sharply polarise the country.
Such warnings carry heavy weight in Somalia, where past disputes over presidential mandates have pushed the country into dangerous political crises.
While Wednesday’s vote gives Mohamud a formal political win, the battle over Somalia’s constitutional future is far from over.
It now appears set to move from parliament into a wider contest over legitimacy, federal consent and the rules of the next elections.
