Thursday June 26, 2025
Jubbaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (left) and Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni (right) address the media during a joint press conference in Garowe, Somalia, on June 26, 2025. The two leaders concluded a three-day consultative summit where they accused the federal government of constitutional overreach and called for a return to consensus-based governance. (Hiiraan Online/Handout)
Garowe (HOL) — The presidents of Puntland and Jubbaland on Thursday accused Somalia’s federal government of unlawfully centralizing power and called for direct engagement between international partners and federal member states until a national resource-sharing agreement is reached.
In a joint statement from Garowe, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and Jubbaland President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) said the federal government was misusing its authority to marginalize states with dissenting political views.
“The actions taken by the Federal Government to alter the Provisional Constitution without national consensus are unacceptable and contradict the 2012 constitutional agreement,” the statement said. The leaders called for a return to inclusive dialogue, emphasizing that “Somalia’s path to governance and unity must be built on mutual agreement and constitutional legitimacy.”
The summit, held from June 23 to 25 in the Puntland capital, focused on Somalia’s political trajectory, national security challenges, and intergovernmental relations. The two leaders cited growing concerns over what they described as the federal government’s overreach, particularly in its attempts to centralize power through constitutional amendments.
One of the core grievances raised by the two leaders was the federal government’s management of Somali airspace. They accused Mogadishu of unilaterally administering civil aviation without legal authority and confirmed they had submitted a formal complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a U.N. agency responsible for regulating civil aviation.
The leaders also rejected recent amendments to Somalia’s Provisional Constitution, calling them illegitimate and conducted without inclusive national dialogue. They argued that constitutional changes must only result from broad-based political consensus involving all stakeholders.
Deni and Madobe expressed support for the National Salvation Forum, a coalition of opposition figures and former Somali leaders, which has voiced concern over what it calls unilateral decision-making by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration.
The two regional leaders also called on the international community to engage directly with federal member states until a credible, consensus-based process is restored. They argued that bypassing the regions erodes the cooperative foundation upon which Somalia’s federal model was built.
The rift follows efforts by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration to push forward a new political roadmap, which includes changes to the electoral model and a plan to transition from an indirect voting system to one-person, one-vote elections by 2026. While the federal government argues that the amendments will enhance governance and accountability, critics have accused it of circumventing regional governments and the parliamentary upper house, which represents the states.
Despite their criticism of the federal government, Puntland and Jubbaland used the summit to praise joint counterterrorism efforts. The leaders hailed recent battlefield victories by their regional forces and local communities against Al-Shabaab and ISIS militants, calling the successes a model of what Somalia can achieve with “cohesive, committed, and transparent leadership.” It also welcomed operations by the Somali National Army and international partners in other regions, while urging a unified national strategy to confront the threat.
The two regional leaders urged President Hassan Sheikh to uphold the constitutional order and to work toward organizing national elections based on consensus. They warned that in the absence of meaningful dialogue, Puntland and Jubbaland would implement governance structures defined by their regional constitutions.
Since 2012, Somalia has operated under a Provisional Constitution that envisions a federal system, but lacks clarity on several key areas—such as resource sharing, jurisdictional authority, and electoral structure. Numerous attempts to finalize the charter have faltered amid political disputes and power struggles between the central government and federal member states.
Puntland and Jubbaland have long championed a decentralized model in which regions retain broad autonomy under a shared federal umbrella. In Thursday’s statement, they stressed that any constitutional reform process must be rooted in consensus, not coercion.
“The only legitimate path forward is to respect the Provisional Constitution as agreed in 2012,” the two leaders said. “All future changes must arise from dialogue, not imposition.”
The summit concluded with a call for continued coordination among like-minded regional administrations, political stakeholders, and civil society to defend the federal charter and resist what they termed the erosion of constitutional order.