MOGADISHU, May 10, 2025 – The United States on Friday urged Somalia to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are included in ongoing efforts to reform the country’s federal and electoral systems, warning that decisions made without a broad-based consensus risk undermining legitimacy and distracting from critical security priorities.
The call, issued by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, follows a political summit held earlier this week in Mogadishu between Somalia’s federal government and several regional administrations. The talks were boycotted by Puntland and Jubaland — two key federal member states — deepening concerns about political fragmentation in the fragile Horn of Africa nation.
“All relevant stakeholders should have a say in changes to Somalia’s federal and election systems,” the Bureau of African Affairs said in a statement posted on social media. “Decisions taken without broad-based support will lack legitimacy and distract from pressing security challenges.”
In a joint communique issued after the meeting, the federal government and participating regional leaders called for all states to cooperate with the federal electoral commission to organize a popular vote — a long-delayed goal in Somalia’s democratic transition.
They also tasked the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs, and Reconciliation with developing a plan to establish a “legitimate administration” in Jubaland, where a dispute over the 2024 regional elections has left governance in limbo. The federal government and Jubaland authorities remain at odds over the credibility of that vote.
The absence of Puntland and Jubaland from the talks has sparked renewed concern among international partners, who have consistently emphasized the need for inclusive political dialogue. Somalia, which has faced decades of conflict and state collapse, is seeking to hold direct national elections for the first time since 1969.
Observers warn that sidelining key stakeholders could jeopardize hard-won progress on governance and security, particularly as the country faces ongoing threats from the al-Shabaab insurgency and prepares for the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers.
