By Aljazeera,
MOGADISHU, Somalia- Residents of Somalia’s capital are casting ballots in local council elections, marking the first time in more than 50 years that voters will directly choose their representatives, a milestone overshadowed by opposition boycotts.
Polling stations across Mogadishu opened at 6am local time (03:00 GMT) on Thursday, with lines forming early as Somalis queued to participate in what President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called a “new chapter in the country’s history”.
About half a million people registered to vote for 390 district council seats, with approximately 1,605 candidates competing across 523 polling stations in the capital.
Authorities deployed close to 10,000 police officers and imposed a city-wide lockdown, restricting vehicle and pedestrian movement, as well as stopping flights into the city’s main airport.
Security in Somalia’s capital has improved this year, but the government continues to battle the al-Qaeda-affiliated armed group al-Shabab, which carried out a major attack in October.
Massive queues have already formed at polling stations across Mogadishu as residents wait for hours to cast their votes. The eagerness and high turnout signal a historic day for the capital as the Benadir local council elections begin. #Somalia #Mogadishu #Elections2025
Information Minister Daud Aweis described the election as a “resurgence of democratic practices” after decades without them, while electoral commission chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan assured voters they could trust security measures “100 percent”.
Somalia last held direct elections in 1969, months before an October military coup that kept civilians out of power for the next three decades.
After years of civil war following military leader Mohamed Siad Barre’s fall in 1991, the country adopted an unpopular indirect, clan-based electoral system in 2004, in which clan representatives select politicians, who in turn choose the president.
The process has historically been deeply contested by candidates seeking top office.
The incumbent president, Mohamud, who won power twice through this system, announced in 2023 his commitment to transition to universal suffrage at the local, federal and presidential level.
His government secured parliamentary approval for constitutional reforms and established a national electoral commission to oversee the transition, a move that has galvanised major opposition figures, including two former presidents.
An agreement reached in October 2024 between federal and regional leaders collapsed amid bitter opposition, complicating upcoming presidential polls.
The Somali Police Force successfully secured today’s historic election, ensuring an incident-free process across Mogadishu. With 10,000 officers deployed to safeguard voters, the force has drawn widespread commendation for its professionalism and dedication to national stability.
‘More of a symbolic vote’
Prominent opposition figures have openly criticised the Mogadishu vote and the government’s overall trajectory, accusing it of excluding them from the electoral process.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed described the procedures as “unfortunate,” attacking what he called an “exclusionary voter registration process” that lacks legitimacy. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmaajo, claimed the process “opens the door to dangers that threaten the security of the country”.
Two important federal member states, Puntland in the north and Jubbaland, bordering Kenya, have rejected the framework outright.
Major opposition figures, including the leaders of those federal states, met in the port city of Kismayo earlier this month, issuing a communique in which they threatened to hold their own separate national elections.
While signalling willingness to negotiate a “transparent, consensus-based electoral process”, they firmly rejected Thursday’s vote as premature and illegitimate.
Citizens with special needs have turned out in strong numbers for the Mogadishu elections, determined to exercise their civic duty. Assisted by security forces, they are ensuring their voices are heard in this historic vote. #Somalia #Mogadishu #Inclusivity #Elections2025 #SONNA
Mahad Wasuge, the executive director of the Mogadishu-based Somali Public Agenda think tank, told Al Jazeera that the government had invested significant political capital in holding a direct election and a local poll offered an “easy win or easy exit” because it is low stakes.
The government, he added, exercises significant control over Mogadishu’s political scene, so wouldn’t have faced a real threat.
But he noted “the vote isn’t supported by Somalia’s international partners and the major opposition figures have boycotted it, which is a red flag”. He characterised it as “more of a symbolic vote”.
The election comes as Somalia faces mounting security challenges in regions near the capital.
Al-Shabab, an armed group seeking the government’s overthrow, launched a major offensive in February 2025 that reversed government territorial gains. UN experts recently told the UN Security Council that the group’s ability to carry out major attacks “remains undiminished”.
