Somalia Completes Voter Registration

(MENAFN) Somalia announced on Sunday the completion of voter registration for the upcoming municipal council elections in Mogadishu, scheduled for October 30.

Authorities hailed this as a landmark achievement in the nation's journey toward democratic governance.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, close to one million people residing in the capital have signed up to participate in the vote.

“On October 30, 2025, the people of Mogadishu will head to the polls to elect members of the municipal council and the mayor of Mogadishu. I am very pleased that nearly one million people have registered with us, and their list will be announced on the 27th of this month,” stated Commission Chairman Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan during a press briefing in the capital.

This development comes amid growing political friction over Somalia’s current voting framework. Several opposition leaders, including ex-presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, have voiced strong opposition to the administration's proposal for a one-person, one-vote system.

Recent negotiations between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and opposition representatives failed to yield a consensus.

Dissenting political figures have threatened to organize a separate vote, condemning the government’s push for direct elections as a one-sided initiative.

The last election in 2022 operated under Somalia’s 4.5 clan-based formula, which distributed legislative seats equally among the four main clans and gave half that allocation to minority communities.

Somalia has not conducted a direct nationwide election since 1967, making the upcoming vote a potentially transformative event in the country's political landscape.

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