Mogadishu, SOMALIA – The National Consultative Council (NCC) has released a communique stipulating new timelines for local and regional elections, without the participation or consent of key stakeholders such as Puntland and Jubbaland, raising serious questions about the legitimacy and inclusivity of the country’s electoral process. The communique sets June 2025 as the date for local elections and September 2025 for Federal Member State (FMS) presidential elections, effectively delaying the electoral process by several years in some cases.
The NCC’s decision has been met with widespread criticism and condemnation from political leaders, civil society groups, and ordinary citizens alike, who see it as a blatant attempt by the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to extend its own mandate and consolidate its power at the expense of democratic legitimacy and regional autonomy. The controversy has once again exposed the deep-seated tensions and divisions that have long plagued Somalia’s political landscape, and highlighted the urgent need for a more inclusive, transparent, and consensus-based approach to electoral reform and democratic governance.
A Decision with Far-Reaching Consequences
The NCC communique sets out a new timeline for local and regional elections, with local elections to be held in June 2025 and FMS presidential elections to follow in September of the same year. On the surface, the NCC’s decision may appear to be a step towards greater democratic representation and accountability, as it ostensibly seeks to hold elections at both the local and regional levels. However, a closer examination of the communique and the context in which it was issued reveals a more troubling picture, one that raises serious questions about the FGS’s commitment to genuine democratic reform and its willingness to engage in inclusive and consensus-based decision-making.
The most glaring issue with the NCC’s communique is the fact that it was issued without the participation or consent of Puntland and Jubbaland, two of Somalia’s most important and influential FMSs. The leaders of these states, President Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland and Ahmed Madobe of Jubbaland, had both withdrawn from the NCC in protest over what they saw as the FGS’s attempts to monopolize the electoral process and impose its own agenda on the regions.
In particular, Madobe had argued that holding direct elections in the current security and political environment was simply not feasible, given the fact that the FGS does not control most of the geographical areas of south and central Somalia. He had also insisted that any decisions on the electoral process must be made with the full participation and consent of all FMSs, including Puntland, in order to ensure their legitimacy and sustainability.
The FGS’s decision to push ahead with the NCC communique despite these objections has been widely seen as a unilateral and illegitimate move, one that undermines the very foundations of Somalia’s federal system and threatens to further deepen the country’s political divisions. By setting new timelines for local and regional elections without the agreement of key stakeholders, the FGS has effectively signaled its intention to extend its own mandate and consolidate its power, even at the cost of democratic legitimacy and regional autonomy.
A Ploy for Extension
One of the most troubling aspects of the NCC’s communique is the fact that it significantly delays the timeline for local and regional elections, particularly in the case of Southwest state, which will now have to wait almost three years beyond its original election date. This delay has been seen by many as a deliberate attempt by the FGS to extend its own mandate and maintain its grip on power, even as it pays lip service to the principles of democratic reform and regional autonomy.
The NCC’s decision is all the more egregious in light of the fact that it had previously set a deadline of June 30, 2024, for the holding of direct elections across Somalia. This deadline, which was agreed upon in May 2023, had been seen as a critical milestone in Somalia’s democratic transition, and a test of the FGS’s commitment to genuine electoral reform and inclusive governance.
However, as the June 2024 deadline approached, it became increasingly clear that the FGS was not prepared to meet its obligations, and that it was instead seeking to delay the electoral process and create confusion at the local and regional levels. The NCC’s communique, which sets new and much later timelines for elections, has been widely seen as a confirmation of these suspicions, and a clear indication of the FGS’s true intentions.
Many observers have argued that the FGS’s strategy is a classic example of a power grab and a ploy for extension, one that seeks to exploit the challenges and uncertainties of the current political and security environment to maintain its own hold on power. By delaying elections and creating confusion at the local and regional levels, the FGS hopes to weaken the opposition and create a pretext for extending its own mandate, even as it claims to be working towards democratic reform and regional autonomy.
