Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said his government’s mandate runs until May 15, 2027, rejecting opposition claims that his term has expired and sharply escalating a dispute over elections, constitutional changes and executive authority.
Mohamud made the remarks on Friday during an address marking Somali Youth Day, using one of the country’s most symbolic national occasions to defend a revised political timetable that has become the centre of a growing constitutional crisis.
“The mandate of the Federal Parliament and the Somali government, starting with the president, expires on May 15, 2027,” Mohamud said.
“This is not because I want it or because I made that decision. The institution legally responsible for that decision made it,” he added.
The statement directly challenged the opposition Somali Future Council, which says Mohamud’s four-year mandate ended on May 15, 2026, exactly four years after lawmakers elected him president in Mogadishu.
The opposition bloc said Mohamud no longer holds legal authority and should now be treated as a former president, citing Article 91 of the provisional constitution.
The dispute has pushed Somalia into one of its most sensitive political moments in years, reviving fears of the kind of confrontation that erupted in 2021, when a previous attempt to extend a presidential mandate triggered armed clashes in the capital.
Constitution dispute
A contested constitutional reform process sits at the heart of the crisis. The federal government backs the process, while major opposition figures reject it.
Mohamud said the amended constitution had now entered into force and would guide the country’s next political phase.
“The implementation of the constitution has begun,” he said. “Soon, the parliament and the federal government will be separated.”
The president also said his own term would end in 2027.
“The mandate of my government ends on May 15, 2027,” he said.
The government argues that Somalia needs the changes to complete its long-delayed constitutional review, move towards direct elections and end decades of indirect power-sharing deals.
In a statement issued after three days of talks with the opposition collapsed, the federal government said Somalia had reached the stage of moving to a democratic system based on universal suffrage.
“The Federal Government of Somalia shares with the Somali people that the country will hold a one-person, one-vote election that is free, fair, transparent, and in accordance with the constitution,” the statement said.
The government said it was fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to hold direct elections and guarantee citizens the right to vote and stand for office.
It also said it had held continuous consultations with electoral stakeholders, but accused the opposition of advancing demands that contradicted the public’s democratic rights.
Opposition rejected
Mohamud used blunt language against critics who say the one-year extension lacks legitimacy.
“People are making noise,” he said. “One person is shouting from one side, another is saying the day of judgment has come, that everything is collapsing, and people are splitting apart.”
“You are liars,” he added. “We have nothing to split over. Leave us alone.”
The comments came after talks between Villa Somalia and the Somali Future Council collapsed at the heavily fortified Halane compound in Mogadishu.
International partners backed the negotiations, held from May 13 to 15, as the two sides tried to narrow differences over the electoral model, the role of the election commission and the status of the government after May 15.
But the two sides remained far apart.
The opposition accused Mohamud of rejecting a negotiated transition and measures designed to prevent a constitutional vacuum. It said he had chosen “political confrontation, instability and security unrest.”
The council demanded that the federal government operate under “restrained executive power” during the disputed period, limiting itself to essential administrative functions and avoiding unilateral decisions on politics, elections, the constitution and national security.
In one of its strongest moves, the opposition bloc also urged national security forces to recognise Mohamud as a former president and refuse to carry out his executive orders.
That direct appeal to the armed forces is likely to alarm Somalia’s international partners, who have repeatedly urged Somali leaders to resolve disputes through dialogue and avoid confrontation that could derail the fight against Al-Shabaab.
Direct vote
Somalia has not held a one-person, one-vote national election since 1969. Its modern presidential contests have instead relied on indirect systems in which clan elders, delegates, and lawmakers play central roles.
Mohamud and his allies say that the model has weakened public accountability, empowered political brokers and kept ordinary Somalis outside the democratic process.
The government points to recent local elections in Mogadishu and South West State as evidence that direct voting is both technically and securely possible.
Opposition leaders say they support democratic elections in principle, but accuse the government of using the direct-vote agenda to extend its mandate and shape the electoral framework in its favour.
They argue Somalia needs a negotiated roadmap, credible institutions and security guarantees before any national ballot can take place.
Mohamud also defended his administration’s broader record, saying Somalia had made major gains in diplomacy and international recognition.
“Today we are present in the biggest places where global decisions are made,” he said. “The world has accepted us, so do not take us backwards.”
