Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Somalia’s main opposition alliance has called for an inclusive transitional council to oversee the country’s constitutional and electoral process, urging AUSSOM troop-contributing states to support a political settlement as the election dispute deepens.
The Somali Future Council outlined the proposal in an open letter dated July 27, saying the council should guide the transition until Somalia renews its national institutions through an agreed process.
The letter was addressed to the leaders, defence ministers and military chiefs of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burundi and Egypt, which contribute or plan to contribute personnel to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM.
The alliance said a negotiated political settlement should form the basis of any security transition, warning that political divisions and a funding crisis threatened the mission’s future.
“Somalia is now in the most dangerous phase of its politics, without a legitimate, agreed framework for who governs, and how,” the council said.
The alliance includes a former president, former prime ministers, senior opposition figures and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland regional adminstrations, whose relations with the federal government have deteriorated sharply.
Mandate dispute
The letter brings Somalia’s unresolved electoral crisis directly into discussions over the future of AUSSOM, which protects strategic sites and supports Somali forces fighting Al-Shabaab.
The opposition says the constitutional terms of parliament and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expired on April 14 and May 15 respectively, leaving the country without an agreed transition.
Mohamud’s government relies on constitutional amendments approved by parliament in March that increased presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years and postponed the expected national election.
Mohamud welcomed the vote as the completion of a constitutional process that had taken years. The opposition rejected the changes, however, arguing that the government could not apply them retrospectively to extend existing mandates.
Analysts also said the amendments did not clearly state whether the additional year applied to the current president and parliament, leaving Somalia with competing interpretations of its constitutional order.
The dispute turned violent in June when government troops and opposition-linked fighters exchanged fire in Mogadishu, forcing families to flee and damaging homes and vehicles.
Former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said government forces attacked his residence, while former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused the authorities of using heavy weapons in populated districts.
The government later said it had restored order. International partners condemned the violence and urged Somali leaders to settle their differences through dialogue.
Election model
At the centre of the confrontation lies disagreement over how Somalia should conduct its next election.
The government wants to replace the indirect system under which clan delegates choose lawmakers, who then elect the president.
Officials say direct voting would give ordinary Somalis political power for the first time in decades and reduce the influence of clan elders and political brokers.
The authorities point to Mogadishu’s December 2025 municipal election as evidence that universal suffrage can work despite insecurity. It marked the capital’s first direct vote since 1969 and served as a test for wider elections.
Opposition leaders say they also support one-person, one-vote elections but argue that the government cannot impose the electoral timetable, constituency boundaries and composition of the electoral commission without national agreement.
Talks between the government and the Somali Future Council ended without consensus in May, despite mediation by Somalia’s international partners.
The council now wants an inclusive transitional body to oversee the constitutional and electoral process until political leaders agree on legitimate national institutions.
Such a council would restore confidence, protect the neutrality of the Somali National Army and prevent state institutions from serving one political side, the letter said.
“No mission can substitute for a state, and no measure of foreign sacrifice can secure a country whose own leadership has forfeited its legitimacy,” it added.
Funding cliff
The appeal comes as AUSSOM faces its most serious financial threat since it replaced the previous African Union transition mission in January 2025.
The nearly 12,000-strong force depends heavily on the United Nations Support Office in Somalia for food, fuel, transport, medical evacuation and other essential logistics.
But the United States said this month that it would stop supporting the UN logistical operation from next year, putting the mission’s continued operation in doubt.
Washington cited political infighting and insufficient progress by Somali authorities in assuming responsibility for national security.
The United States does not oppose renewing AUSSOM itself but will not support the continuation of the roughly $500-million-a-year UN operation that sustains it, according to diplomats.
The decision followed Washington’s opposition to a proposal to fund 75 per cent of AUSSOM’s costs through mandatory UN contributions.
Traditional donors, including the European Union, have provided additional money, but AU officials say temporary pledges cannot finance a long-term military mission.
The African Union has warned that uncertainty over financing could undermine operations and reverse security gains against Al-Shabaab.
The Somali Future Council thanked African soldiers for nearly two decades of sacrifice but said continued support should depend on a credible political agreement.
“The ultimate measure of AUSSOM’s success will not simply be the territory liberated from terrorism,” it said, “but the emergence of a legitimate Somali state capable of preserving that peace and space through its own institutions.”
