The Supreme Court of Somalia ruled on Thursday, November 5, in Mogadishu that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term expired on May 15 and ordered elections to be held within 90 days, placing the government in a caretaker capacity.
The constitutional chamber, composed of five judges, also set April 14 as the end date for the mandates of the two chambers of Parliament and the federal government. It declared that decisions made after these deadlines in the exercise of their constitutional powers were devoid of legal validity.
The ruling does not abolish the constitutional amendments adopted in March, which extend federal terms from four to five years. However, the Court ruled that these provisions cannot extend the terms of current officeholders, due to the absence of an explicit mention making them applicable to terms already underway.
The judges have asked political actors to reach an agreement on an applicable electoral framework within thirty days. The election must then be organized within ninety days, according to the decision issued following a request from former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud argued that the amendments allowed for an additional transition period to prepare for national direct elections in April and May 2027. His opponents disputed this interpretation and demanded the retention of the four-year terms provided for by the 2012 provisional Constitution.
The decision comes the day after the presidency announced the replacement of the Supreme Court president, Baashe Yusuf Ahmed. The court separately declared this dismissal null and void, considering that the head of state could not impose it without a proposal from the Higher Council of the Judiciary and without parliamentary approval.
The presidency had justified this change by concerns related to the functioning and fairness of justice, without referring to the constitutional case then under deliberation. It had not yet issued a response to the ruling on mandates at the time of the last checks.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had invited political leaders and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland to electoral discussions scheduled from November 14 to 18 in Mogadishu.
