Wednesday August 13, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Monday registered at a voter registration center in Warta-Nabadda District, calling on citizens to seize the opportunity to secure their constitutional right to choose leaders in the country’s planned direct elections.
The president praised the National Electoral Commission for its preparations, describing the shift to a one-person, one-vote system as a “long-awaited national aspiration” enshrined in the provisional constitution. He said the system would return to the people the power to elect leaders at the federal, state, and district levels.
Voter registration is under way in Mogadishu, Southwest state, Galmudug, and the Hirshabelle region. However, Jubbaland, Puntland, and several opposition groups are boycotting the process over constitutional amendments and electoral changes.
Federal leaders and opposition representatives held multiple meetings last week in an effort to break the deadlock over the elections, but no agreement has yet been announced.