Residents of Somalia’s capital voted in local council elections on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, marking the first direct polls held in the city in more than five decades. The election, part of a government plan to transition to universal suffrage, proceeded despite a boycott by prominent opposition figures and some federal member states.
Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. local time for approximately half a million registered voters to choose 390 district council members from a field of 1,605 candidates. To secure the event, authorities deployed nearly 10,000 police officers and enacted a city-wide lockdown, restricting vehicle and pedestrian movement and halting flights at the main airport.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the election a “new chapter in the country’s history.” Information Minister Daud Aweis described it as a “resurgence of democratic practices.”
The last direct election in Somalia was held in 1969, months before a military coup. Since 2004, the country has used an indirect electoral system in which clan representatives select legislators, who in turn elect the president. In 2023, President Mohamud’s government announced its commitment to reintroduce direct voting at local, federal, and presidential levels.
However, the move has been met with opposition. Several major political figures and parties boycotted Thursday’s vote, questioning its legitimacy. Former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed criticized what he called an “exclusionary voter registration process.” Another former president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, claimed the process “opens the door to dangers that threaten the security of the country.”
Two federal member states, Puntland and Jubbaland, have rejected the government’s electoral framework. Leaders from these states and other opposition figures met earlier this month in Kismayo, issuing a statement in which they threatened to organize separate national elections if their concerns were not addressed.
Mahad Wasuge, executive director of the Mogadishu-based Somali Public Agenda think tank, described the election as “more of a symbolic vote” in an interview with Al Jazeera. He stated that the boycott by major opposition figures and a lack of explicit support from Somalia’s international partners was a “red flag.”
The election took place amid ongoing security challenges. The Somali government continues to combat the armed group al-Shabab. A recent report by UN experts submitted to the UN Security Council concluded that the group’s ability to carry out attacks “remains undiminished.”
The United Nations Security Council renewed the mandate for an African Union peacekeeping mission in the country this week, though officials have reported that the mission faces significant funding shortfalls. The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Jeff Bartos, recently expressed concern over the security situation and funding for the mission.
