Somalia’s attorney general says a Supreme Court order for elections within 90 days has “no legal effect,” rejecting a ruling that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term extension was unlawful.
What the court ordered
The court ruled that Mohamud’s term ended on May 15, 2026, and parliament’s mandate ended a month earlier. It ordered political leaders to agree on an election framework within 30 days and hold elections within 90 days, while limiting the cabinet to routine caretaker work.
The attorney general’s office, which represented the government, argues that judges should first have settled its objections to the court’s authority and former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s right to bring the case. The judges said the revised constitution gives the Supreme Court constitutional-court powers until a separate court is established.
Why election rules remain disputed
Somalia’s indirect, clan-based system has clan delegates select lawmakers, who then choose the president. It helped sustain power-sharing after conflict but limits voters’ direct say. Efforts to move to nationwide direct elections have repeatedly stalled over how to manage the transition and who should take part. The dispute also concerns the rules, institutions and federal-state balance that shape who can compete and how power is shared.
Mohamud’s government says direct elections and a party-based system would move Somalia beyond clan-delegate politics. In March, parliament approved constitutional changes extending presidential and parliamentary terms from four years to five. The government says the changes allow Mohamud to remain in office until May 2027 and give time to prepare for elections. Opponents, including leaders from Puntland and Jubaland, reject the process and timetable. They have argued for a transition that retains elements of clan-based representation and gives regional authorities a role. Talks on the voting model failed to reach agreement.
A wider fight over authority
On November 4, Mohamud dismissed Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed and appointed his predecessor, citing complaints about the administration of justice. The court later declared the dismissal null and void, saying the president lacked authority to remove the chief justice by decree. The attorney general’s objections are the government’s stated legal grounds for rejecting the ruling. In practical terms, rejecting it also preserves the government’s position that it can continue under the amended constitution.
The judgment names no replacement president and does not say what follows if its deadlines are missed. Competing claims of legitimacy could widen the dispute into a federal political crisis. The dispute has already coincided with armed clashes, while Somalia faces an ongoing al-Shabaab insurgency. The United Nations political mission closed on October 31 without an agreed replacement mediator for the election dispute.
The attorney general’s office says it will pursue further legal action but has not said what steps it will take. The court’s 30-day deadline for leaders to agree on an election framework is the clearest immediate test; carrying out its 90-day election order will be harder without agreement on the process. Mohamud’s government has argued for elections in 2027, while the court says the current institutions’ terms have expired. Whether talks resume, and whether both sides accept their outcome, may determine if the ruling leads to a negotiated vote or another flashpoint.