Somalia’s top court rules president’s term extension is unlawful, deepening power struggle

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s power struggle has deepened after the Supreme Court ruled that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term had expired and ordered elections within 90 days.

The court's decision on Thursday came a day after Mohamud dismissed the country's chief justice. The presidency had not responded to the ruling by Friday.

The confrontation comes a week after the United Nations closed its political mission , which had helped rival leaders negotiate. No replacement mediator has been agreed upon for an election dispute that has already sparked armed clashes in the capital, Mogadishu.

The Supreme Court's five-page judgment, reviewed by The Associated Press, rejected the president’s position that constitutional changes allow him to remain in office until 2027.

The court said parliament’s decision to extend presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years did not give current officeholders another year in power. It ruled that their terms had already expired.

Judges gave political leaders 30 days to agree on how to hold elections and limited the government to routine administration pending a vote. They did not name a replacement president or specify what would happen if the deadlines were missed.

In announcing Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed’s dismissal, the presidency cited complaints about the administration of justice and the need for judicial reform.

The Supreme Court rejected his removal, saying the president had violated the constitution and accusing him of trying to obstruct its review of the term extensions.

Local news outlet Hiiraan Online reported Friday that government troops had deployed around the Supreme Court on Thursday and that the chief justice had been ordered to leave. The AP could not independently verify the report.

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who brought the challenge, welcomed the judgment and urged the president to negotiate.

Adnan Abdi Ali, a political analyst at the Somali Center for Studies in Mogadishu, questioned whether the ruling would be enforced.

“This ruling is unlikely to be implemented, as it comes at a time of ongoing electoral disputes,” he said.

The dispute also concerns how Somalis will vote. The president wants direct elections to replace a system in which clan representatives choose lawmakers, who then elect the president. Opposition leaders and the regional governments of Puntland and Jubaland have challenged his constitutional and electoral changes.

Ugandan troops had been deployed under a bilateral agreement with Somalia that helped recapture and hold territory against al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants.

African Union peacekeepers plan to replace them at four bases critical to protecting Mogadishu, but it remains unclear who will secure the positions those peacekeepers leave behind. Uganda says its remaining forces, including AU peacekeepers, will leave by the end of 2027.

Al-Shabab still controls large rural areas and attacks Mogadishu and other cities.

Ahead of the U.N. political mission’s closure, Mohamed Husein Gaas, director of the Mogadishu-based RAAD Peace Research Institute, warned that competing claims to power could undermine cooperation among security forces.

“Somalia could find itself confronting a political crisis without an agreed mechanism to contain it,” he told the AP.

Associated Press writer Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.