Somalia returns to elections after 56 years. Mogadishu in the jihadist ring

Mogadishu residents voted on Thursday in the first direct local elections since 1969. About half a million Somalis out of the 3 million living in the capital have decided to take part in what President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called “a new chapter in the country's history.”

According to the Somali Electoral Commission (NIEBC), around 1,605 candidates from 20 political parties competed for 390 seats.

The last direct elections in Somalia were held in 1969, a few months before the coupwhich deprived civilians of power for three decades. After years of civil war that broke out after the fall of military leader Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, the country adopted an indirect, clan-based electoral system in 2004, in which clan representatives elect politicians who in turn elect the president.

Current President Mohamud, who came to power twice thanks to this system, has pledged to introduce universal suffrage at the local, federal and presidential levels in 2023. Thursday's vote was the fulfillment of the first part of the promise, and national and presidential elections are scheduled for the first half of 2026.

Two northern regions, Puntland, which announced its secession from the federation in 1991, and Somaliland, and several opposition parties boycotted Thursday's elections, accusing the authorities in Mogadishu of being premature.

Somalia is struggling with security problems in the regions near the capital. Al-Shabaab, an armed group subordinated to Al-Qaeda seeking to overthrow the government, launched a major offensive in February 2025, which has already killed several thousand people, according to the US African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).

By July, terrorists had almost encircled the capital, setting up checkpoints on its outskirts. At the same time, the United States Air Force began to attack their groups. The latest airstrikes were carried out by Africa Command (AFRICOM) on Monday, December 22, in the area of ​​the Golis Mountains, approximately 88 km southeast of Boosaso. (PAP)

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