Somalia President Announces Bid for a Third Term as Political Tensions Grow

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he will seek a third term in office, arguing that the country’s constitution allows him to run again because his previous mandates were not consecutive.

The outgoing leader Hassan Sheikh, said the provisional constitution bars a president from serving two consecutive terms, not from running again after a break in office. He was first elected president in 2012 and returned to the post in 2022 after five years out of power.

“The constitution does not prohibit me from running again,” he said. “It only prevents a president from being elected for two consecutive terms. I was elected twice, but not consecutively.”

He added that his new candidacy would take place under a revised constitutional framework and a multiparty political system, which the government says will mark a shift away from Somalia’s long-standing clan-based electoral model.

Hassan Sheikh’s announcement comes as his current term nears its end and as his administration pushes forward with controversial constitutional amendments. The proposed changes have drawn strong opposition from rival politicians as well as the leaders of the Jubbaland and Puntland regional states.

Opposition figures accuse the president of using the constitutional review process to consolidate power and potentially extend his time in office, allegations the government denies. The amendments are being processed by parliamentary leadership amid boycotts and protests by opposition lawmakers, who say the process lacks consensus and transparency.

Tensions have repeatedly disrupted sessions of Somalia’s bicameral parliament, with some opposition legislators barred from meetings after clashing with parliamentary leaders over the handling of the constitutional review.

The dispute has further heightened Somalia’s political uncertainty at a time when talks were expected in Mogadishu between the federal government and the Somali Salvation Forum, a coalition of opposition leaders calling for dialogue on elections, security, and constitutional reform.

Somalia is attempting to transition to direct elections and a stable multiparty system after decades of conflict and political fragility, but deep divisions over the constitution and electoral framework continue to test the country’s fragile institutions.

GAROWE ONLINE