Somalia's opposition has declared that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud can no longer perform core presidential functions after the expiry of his term, setting up a direct challenge to the federal government's authority ahead of delayed elections.
According to an opposition notice reported by Idil News, the Somali Future Council says Mohamud is no longer able to handle military affairs, dismiss government officials or carry out other key executive tasks. The coalition reached that position at a conference at Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, and it says the federal government should now limit spending to election needs and essential services.
The notice also proposes that Lower House Speaker Aden Madobe serve as acting president until a new head of state is elected. The planned presidential vote is now scheduled for 30 June, roughly 50 days after the end of Mohamud's original mandate.
The dispute turns on competing constitutional interpretations. Mohamud's supporters say amendments passed by parliament earlier this year extended his mandate until May 2027 so that electoral preparations could continue. Opposition leaders reject that reading and say the extension is unconstitutional.
The report says the presidential term expired on 15 May, while the country's federal parliament has also seen its own mandate lapse, originally due to end in April 2026. Parliament has nonetheless extended its session and the country remains without a settled timeline for a full electoral transition.
The political tension is made sharper by the fact that the international community has stopped referring to Mohamud as president in recent statements, according to the report, and has called for adherence to an election roadmap and restraint on major new decisions during the transition period.
The opposition position is not simply procedural. It is an attempt to freeze executive power and prevent the outgoing administration from making unilateral choices while the election timetable remains unsettled. The statement says no new contracts should be signed, though day-to-day government operations would continue.
That framework reflects a broader power struggle in Mogadishu, where the question is not only who wins the next election but who is entitled to govern until it happens. With parliament's status contested and the presidency disputed, Somalia faces a period in which legal arguments and political legitimacy are increasingly intertwined.
For now, the opposition move increases pressure on state institutions to clarify the transition and on mediators to prevent the dispute from spilling into a wider institutional crisis.
Event date: 2026-05-19.
